KIDNAPPED
by kathyde
Summary: Emily is taken, can Gillian keep Cal from falling apart
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

Eli Loker and Ria Torres were receiving their final instructions from Gillian Foster when Anna, the receptionist, sheepishly poked her head inside the lab.

"Dr. Foster?" She waited until Gillian looked over at her.

"Anna? I thought I said to hold my calls?" Gillian questioned nicely but with an air of authority that had the other woman looking worriedly at the floor.

"I tried to relay that information but she said it was an emergency..."

Gillian glanced at the clock on the wall, and frowned. It was 8:25 in the morning and she wondered who would be calling them this early in the morning. She knew it wasn't Anna's fault and nodded before she smiled. "Did she give her name?"

"It's Zoe Landau, Dr. Foster."

Upon hearing the name of her partner's ex-wife, Gillian rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively. "Tell Dr. Lightman to speak with her…"

"He's not here yet. Besides…" Anna shrugged and looked at her nervously. "She said that she'd only speak to you."

Gillian took a deep breath as she looked at the file in her hand. She had tried unsuccessfully to hide her reaction but Loker and Torres both saw through her anger and pretended to discuss the case as she took a minute to compose herself.

Gillian cleared her throat to get their attention. "Give me five minutes," she said abruptly with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

She walked quickly towards her office. As her heels tapped out angrily in the quiet halls, her mind conjured up all the nasty things she planned to say to Cal when she told him she had been pulled out of a meeting from a summons by his ex-wife.

The two women were barely civil to one another and Gillian steeled her nerves as she grabbed for the phone. " ** _Dr._** Foster speaking, how can I help you?"

Zoe scoffed at the air of superiority in her voice. "Cut the crap, Foster, I know your receptionist told you it was me."

Gillian bit back her angry retort. "I was in a meeting trying to brief my two best people on an important case that they happen to be leaving for in less than two hours! What do you want, Zoe?"

"I need help."

It was Gillian's turn to scoff. "Then you need to speak to Cal. I'll tell him to call you as soon as I see him. Have a great day… "

"Gillian, wait! Please!" Gillian's eyes rose in surprise at the panic evident in Zoe's voice and instead of slamming down the phone, she put it back to her ear. "I need **_your_** help!" she heard Zoe beg.

"My help?!" Gillian asked as her voice softened in response to the desperation she heard in Zoe's tone. "With what?"

"I think Emily's been kidnapped!"

In shock, Gillian almost dropped the phone as she sat down heavily in her chair. "What?!"

"I came home and there was a note on the counter."

"What did it say?"

"Only that I was to wait for instructions."

"Who could have done this?!" Gillian asked.

"I don't know, I'm working on a case with some people pretty high up in the mob…it could be related." Zoe began to cry uncontrollably into the phone. "I need Cal's help now!"

"Okay, I understand that part but why did you call me first?"

"He's gonna go out of his mind when he finds out and the only one with any hope of controlling him is you! Will you come with him to Chicago?"

Gillian knew that Zoe was right about Cal's reaction and as since she was worried about Emily as well, she readily agreed. "Of course, we'll be out on the next flight."

"I'll pay…whatever it is, Gillian, I'll pay!"

Gillian frowned as she mentally went over their bank account and sighed into the phone. "To be honest, Zoe, we've been cash strapped since Cal bought your half of the business. I normally wouldn't take you up on the offer but if I don't the trip will have to go on my personal credit card."

"God, Gillian I don't care about the money, I've already called my investment broker and have him liquidating my assets. I promise you I'll help with expenses. Are Loker and that new girl, what's her name…Torres, right? Are they available?"

"Yes, of course…We've got nothing pending right now."

"You just said you were briefing your two best people on an important case…"

"It's a cheating spouse case…it can wait." Gillian lied easily.

"Okay…have your receptionist call my secretary. There's a hotel across the street from my office, that'll be the closest place for you to stay."

"Okay."

"Gillian, thank you."

Gillian heard the sincerity in her voice and knew Zoe had to be crippled with worry. "Zoe, try not to panic. I'm sure it's going to be okay."

"It's Emily we're talking about here!"

"I know…we'll be on the next available flight."

Gillian hung up the phone and wiped the tears from her eyes as she swallowed hard. As she made her way back to the lab, she made a quick stop at the front desk.

"Anna, I need you to book four airline tickets to Chicago for Doctor Lightman, myself, Loker and Torres."

Anna frowned as she started to sign on to her computer. "Should I try to change over the tickets Loker and Torres already have to go to California?"

Gillian sighed as she looked pointedly at the young woman. "I don't care how you get them or what they cost; I just need four tickets to Chicago on the next available flight."

Gillian whirled away from her and rushed into the lab.

Loker and Torres were joking around but stopped as she walked into the room.

Concerned by the look on her face, Torres immediately rushed to her side. "What's up?"

Gillian ignored her and looked at Loker. "Give me your house keys."

Loker blinked in surprise but handed them over to Gillian who handed them along with her own keys to Torres.

"Ria, go to Eli's house and get him some clothes…"

"Uh Foster, we're leaving in less than two hours, I'm already packed." Loker said as he pointed at his suitcase that was leaning against the back desk.

She ignored him and continued to speak to Torres. "…suitable for Chicago then go home and get yourself repacked as well."

Tears had formed in Gillian's eyes as she tried to control her emotions.

Torres cocked her head to the side as she tried to read her. "Chicago? You received a call from Lightman's ex and now instead of California, Loker and I are going to Chicago?"

Gillian looked at her evenly as she ignored the question and continued. "Then swing by my place, there's a suitcase in the back of my closet, throw anything in it you can find. You have one hour." At the questions clearly written on Torres' face, Gillian took a second to explain. "We're ALL going to Chicago!"

Loker's face fell as it dawned on him the only reason something this unusual would happen. "Something's happened to Emily?!"

A tear escaped and slid down her cheek as Gillian nodded and looked at him. "Zoe thinks she was kidnapped. Loker, I need you to stay here and gather any equipment you think we can use while I go to try to find Cal."

Loker touched her elbow in support and squeezed it lightly. "Go! We'll get everything ready."

Gillian nodded then smiled weakly before she turned and left.

Torres looked at Loker worriedly then ran out the door to get her errands done while he raced around the lab gathering anything he thought they could carry.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Gillian called Cal's cell phone repeatedly while she drove to his house then used the key he had given her to let herself in.

"Cal!" she called out loudly as she walked through the house. "Cal!"

"Damn it!" she exclaimed as she walked into his bedroom and found it empty.

Shaking her head with disgust, she wondered which bimbo he had spent the night with. She headed to the closet in the spare bedroom and grabbed his suitcase then came back to his room and plopped it onto his bed. Opening it quickly, she turned and dug through his dresser drawers and grabbed several pairs of jeans and tossed them towards the bed. She opened up his closet and quickly grabbed some warm shirts as well as a few sweaters and sweatshirts. She dumped them on the bed as well then raced back to the closet and crawled on the floor to find his hiking boots as well as another pair of warm shoes. She packed all the clothes quickly then raced to get some underwear and socks. She wondered on the way back to the suitcase why touching his undergarments seemed normal then shook her head to clear her thoughts as she clicked on the light in his bathroom and quickly packed up his toiletries.

She glanced at her phone to make sure it was working and scowled that he still hadn't called her. As she lugged his suitcase out to her car, she wondered for the millionth time where he could be.

She raced back to the office to find a dolly sitting by the front door haphazardly stacked with the equipment Loker was able to pack.

Loker stepped out to see who came in the door. "Where's Lightman?" he asked worriedly as he walked towards her.

Gillian's face fell as her last hope died. "I was hoping here."

"Nope."

Anna shrugged. "I've been trying to call him on his cell phone and he has yet to respond, I'm sorry, Dr. Foster."

Gillian waved her hand dismissively as she frowned. "Don't feel bad, he's not answering for me either."

"Maybe…" Loker tried to hide his expression but Gillian saw it before he was able to school his features.

"What?"

"We should call Wollowski?"

Gillian sighed as she realized that it was a real possibility Lightman was with the woman, especially since they had so recently worked together again.

At that moment, Torres raced though the front door with a bag of clothes and handed them to Loker. Gillian glanced at him. "I'll call Wollowski, repack your bag then can you please get all of the luggage in the car? What time is the flight, Anna?"

"11:45."

Gillian glanced at her watch. "We have an hour and a half!"

She raced to her office for some privacy then quickly dialed the number.

It rang four times before a tired voice picked up on the line. "Wollowski."

"I need to speak to Lightman."

"So you called me?" Wollowski chuckled. "Do I at least get a good morning to you, Dr. Foster?"

"Look, Sharon, this is an emergency regarding his daughter and I don't have time for games. Is he there with you?"

Wollowski sat up in her bed as she heard the worried tone in Gillian's voice. "No."

"Fuck!" Gillian spat. "Where the hell can he be?"

Wollowski blinked in shock at the totally uncharacteristic language Gillian used then sighed into the phone. "He mentioned something about a poker game…"

"Great!" Gillian sighed disgustedly. "He could be missing for days and our plane is set to leave within the hour!"

Wollowski shot out of bed and automatically reached for her work pants. "Look, I heard there were a few high stakes games that went on last night, I'll head out and see if I can find him."

"Will you call me if you find him and then bring him to the airport?"

"Look if it's about his kid, I promise I'll find him and get him there."

"Thanks!" Gillian said as she hung up.

She raced to the front and was grateful that Loker and Torres had everything loaded in the back of the SUV. "Ready?" Gillian asked.

The three colleagues jumped in and headed towards the airport. Loker looked in the rearview mirror and caught Ria's eye then nodded imperceptibly towards Gillian.

"Um…any luck finding Lightman?" Torres ventured quietly.

"Wollowski said she'd find him for me."

"What will you do if she doesn't find him?" Loker asked.

Gillian sighed. "You guys will go ahead and set things up. If we miss this flight, we'll have to come on the next one."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

On the way to the airport, Gillian's phone rang.

"Yeah, this is Wollowski, I've got him and I'm on the way to the airport.

"She found him!" Foster relayed then quieted down as she listened on the phone. She frowned as she hung up. "That's odd; she said she's not sure if they'll let him on the flight..."

"What the hell does that mean?" Torres frowned.

Loker smirked as he shot Gillian a nervous look. "That he's shit faced and probably belligerent."

Gillian knew he was probably right and looked at both of them pointedly. "If that's the case, NO ONE mentions where we're going until AFTER we get to Chicago."

"He's gonna lose it when he finds out," Loker offered quietly.

Gillian nodded as she looked worriedly out at the passing cars. "And I don't want him to lose it on an airplane that's ten thousand feet up in the air."

Loker pulled up in the departures area and they all hopped out and began to unload the back of the SUV. They were almost finished when police lights flashed as a squad car pulled up behind them.

Wollowski hopped out and walked over with a frown. "Glad I caught you."

"Glad you found him…" Gillian walked to the back of the squad and grimaced at Lightman who was slumped over and sound asleep in the back seat. "…I think…"

Torres looked in the window and raised her brows then backed away quickly. "I'm going to ask about a wheelchair," she said as she ran towards the building while Loker paid an outside attendant to check in their bags.

Gillian opened the back door of the car and leaned in and shook his arm. "Cal, wake up."

Lightman groaned and swung his hand at the door as he mumbled incoherently.

"Cal!" she tried again to no avail.

Wollowski frowned as she walked around Gillian. "Hey Lightman, get the hell outta my partner's car." she called out, as she roughly shook him awake.

"Luv, you need to get outta here. I just heard Foster's voice and she'll be pissed if she finds you here."

"Too late," Wollowski stepped to the side so he could get a view of an angry Gillian.

"Bloody hell!"

Torres ran up with a wheelchair and Gillian smiled at her gratefully then looked at her and Loker. "You two walk ahead and tell them I have a special needs patient traveling with me."

Torres and Loker left to pave the way as Gillian turned to the chair and pointed at it. "Let's go Cal."

His speech was slurred and he had trouble focusing on her. "Not now, Luv. I need to get some sleep."

"We have a case."

"Darling, I can't see straight and my head is starting to pound, start without me and maybe sometime tomorrow I'll catch up."

"Now, Cal!"

Wollowski grabbed his arm roughly and helped him to the chair. "Better listen to her, Lightman."

Cal fell into the chair and slumped forward. Gillian rolled her eyes as she grabbed a blanket from the trunk of the car and wrapped it around him.

Wollowski grabbed her arm and squeezed it reassuringly. "I'll get your SUV back to the office."

Gillian hadn't even thought about the car and looked at it then looked back to her and sighed gratefully. "Thanks!"

"Good luck."

"I'll keep you posted." Gillian said warmly as she turned to go.

She pushed Cal through the airport and because Torres knew the guards, they managed to get though security easily. They reached the boarding area and the announcement came on for the loading of passengers needing special assistance.

Loker laughed nervously. "I think we qualify."

Anna had paid dearly for the last minute tickets but it worked out perfectly as the seats were in first class.

In the aisle way, Gillian shook Lightman awake. "Cal, I need your help."

Cal blinked unseeingly at her. "I'll try, Darling, but I don't think I'll last long."

Loker snorted as Torres blushed.

Gillian ignored the comment as she continued to pull on him. "Cal, can you sit in this other seat for me?"

Cal eyed it warily then decided he could make it. "Sure, Luv." He said as he crawled onto the seat.

Gillian quickly moved his legs under the seat in front of him then belted him in before she covered him up. She breathed a sigh of relief when he promptly fell back asleep.

The stewardess eyed them curiously then took the wheelchair away.

Torres leaned over and whispered. "I think she knows he's not really sick."

Loker raised his eye brows in question. "Can you honestly say you don't think he's sick?"

Gillian rolled her eyes at the comment then let the relief of being on their way, wash over her. She settled back as the plane took off and let her mind drift to memories of Emily growing up.

Thankfully, Cal stayed asleep as Gillian scooted over to speak quietly with Loker and Torres. They spent the entire flight bouncing ideas off one another until Gillian's head began to hurt.

"I can't stand the what if's anymore…We may as well wait until we see Zoe and get the facts."

"When are you going to tell him?" Torres wondered.

Gillian looked over at Cal. "After we get checked into the hotel and I get him settled safely into his room."

"We'll be there with you, Gillian." Torres said quietly.

Gillian looked at her and smiled. "Thanks, both of you for the support."

Loker shrugged his shoulders indifferently as he looked at Cal with disgust. "That's not why we'll be there…we don't think you should be alone with him when he blows."

Gillian blinked in surprise. "I'm not afraid of Cal."

Loker shook his head, "Yeah, well…he terrifies me."

Gillian scooted back and relaxed in her seat. She put her head back and closed her eyes and tried to come up with the words to tell the man she loved that his daughter had been kidnapped.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

The plane landed and Gillian was able to get Lightman settled back into another wheelchair then settled into the back of the limo Zoe had provided.

Loker and Torres let them have the back seat and when the limo took the steep ramp out of the airport, Lightman lost the battle trying to sit upright and fell across Gillian's lap then quickly snuggled down to use her as a pillow.

Loker frowned with disgust as he scooted over to help him sit upright again.

Gillian waved her hand at him dismissively as she put an arm around Lightman's shoulders. "It's a short ride, just leave him," she said as she absentmindedly ran her fingers through his hair and looked out the window.

The ride to downtown Chicago went fast and Cal was beginning to wake up as the taxi pulled up to their hotel.

Torres ran inside and got the keys to their rooms as Loker helped the bellhop unload their luggage.

Lightman blinked in the bright sunlight as he looked up from her lap. "Foster! What are you doing here, Luv?"

Gillian shot him an angry look as she scooted out of the car.

Lightman's face promptly hit the car seat. "Uh, oh! I know that look, I'm in trouble again…what have I done now?" he frowned in confusion as he followed her out of the car and stumbled.

Gillian caught him as he put his arm around her and clung to her for support.

She walked him inside and towards the elevators that Torres was now standing by.

Lightman looked around with confusion. "This looks like a hotel?"

Gillian patted his stomach. "It is, we're checking in."

Lightman saw Torres and smirked wildly. "A threesome? Okay but you ladies will have to wait a bit for me to sober up." He followed them into the elevator then really looked confused when Loker stepped in with them. "Why the hell is he here?" he asked before his eyes took in the equipment on the dolly and an idea popped into his head. "He's going to video it?"

The elevator doors opened at their floor and Loker lead the way. Torres quickly kept pace with him and the two each grabbed their bags from the bellhop's cart and quickly deposited them into their rooms.

Gillian was walking slowly with Cal. He had wrapped his arm around her neck and his hand dangled down in front of her. She stopped in front of his room and he suddenly leaned in and kissed her.

Gillian gasped as she tried not to respond but she moaned when his tongue slipped into her mouth and she found herself kissing him back. He reached down and caressed her breast and her eyes flew open in shock.

"No, Cal."

"It's all right, Luv," he slurred as he cupped her cheek and drew her close.

Loker walked passed them and grabbed the key from Gillian's hand then opened the door to his room. Torres cleared her throat and Gillian jumped back guiltily.

Lightman looked at Torres and blinked his eyes. "I thought I said I wasn't up for a threesome. Besides, Foster here gets pissed every time I shag another woman."

After Gillian pushed him lightly, he stumbled into the room. Torres walked in and Lightman leered at her as he walked purposefully towards her. She backed away worriedly until she was stopped by the bathroom door.

Before he could lean in and kiss her, Torres was struck with a sudden idea and grabbed his arm and pushed him into the shower.

"Paybacks are a bitch," she offered as she turned the cold water on. "This sobered me up pretty quickly,"

Lightman swore out loud as the cold water hit him in the face. "Bloody hell, what did ya go and do a fool thing like that for?!"

Gillian stuck her head around the corner and stared at him angrily. "Maybe because you just tried to kiss your employee!"

The cold water had its desired effect and the fog in his mind was actually clearing quickly only to be replaced with a raging headache.

He gasped as the truth of what he'd done registered in his mind. He looked at them both apologetically and before he could speak, Torres winked at him. "Been there, done that, let's just say we're even."

Cal groaned as he looked away. "If you ladies will excuse me, I'd like to take a proper shower…"

Torres left and Gillian continued to glare at him angrily. He looked down at the floor, clearly ashamed. "Foster…"

"Save it, Cal."

"Gillian…I'm sorry…"

Gillian shook her head with disgust as she sighed. "Let me get you something to wear. We need to talk when you get out."

Cal stripped off his clothes then showered and let the water pound on his back. He finally felt like his head was clear enough to speak again and he got out of the shower and dried off.

Gillian had set his clothes on the counter and also thoughtfully brought him a cup of coffee.

Wrapped in a towel, he sat down on the toilet seat as he sipped at the hot liquid and held his pounding head. After another ten minutes, he dressed and felt almost human when he walked out of the bathroom.

Loker, Torres and Gillian were all seated around the room. Torres stood up and handed him another cup of coffee.

"Thanks," Cal said sheepishly.

Gillian patted the bed next to her. "Cal, take a seat."

"My head is splitting in two."

"Too bad, your help is needed."

"Foster, I don't think I can bloody well put on my own socks right now, can't this wait?"

Loker was pissed that all of this time was being wasted and he walked over to the window and whipped opened the curtains angrily. "No, it can't!"

"Eli," Torres warned.

Cal blinked rapidly as his eyes adjusted to the light and his mind registered what he was seeing. "We're in Chicago?!"

He looked into the eyes of an angry Loker then saw the sympathy in Torres eyes. Lastly he looked at Gillian and saw worry and fear. He knew instantly that something had happened with Emily.

"What's she done now?" Cal whispered quietly.

"Who?" Gillian asked.

"Emily! We'd only be in Chicago if she was in major trouble so what the hell has my daughter done now?!"

He had grabbed for his head to still the pounding caused by his shouting as he looked at Gillian for an answer.

"She hasn't done anything, Cal…"

He read all the emotions clearly evident on her face and in her eyes and dread flooded through him and his stomach rolled when he saw her tears begin to fall.

Cal's whole demeanor changed as he shut down every one of his emotions. He sat on the edge of the bed as he quickly grabbed for his socks and pulled them on then jammed his feet in the boots Gillian had packed.

He grabbed his coat and started to head out.

"Cal, where are you going?" Gillian called out.

"To see my daughter's mum!"

Loker, Torres and Gillian scrambled for their coats and quickly followed after him.

Torres looked over at Gillian as they walked behind him. "How come we never talked about this scenario?"

Loker frowned. "Because this is the least likely reaction we expected from him."

"Indifference?" Torres wondered.

Gillian sighed as she shook her head. "Professionalism! He's just shut down every emotion in his body so he can focus exclusively on the facts at hand."

They caught up to him as the elevator doors opened. Cal was emotionless as he watched the numbers above the door going down.

Gillian leaned over and grabbed for his hand. "Cal," she said as she squeezed it lightly.

"Not now, Foster!" he said indifferently as he moved away from her.

Gillian took the rebuff lightly. She knew he wouldn't allow himself the luxury of feeling anything until Emily was home and safe. She also knew that when he eventually did break down, she'd be there for him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Address?" Cal asked as he walked through the lobby.

Loker rattled it off and Cal allowed himself a second to feel relief that Zoe's office was so close.

He walked outside, looked around, and then crossed the busy street, oblivious to the cars screeching to a halt.

Ignoring Zoe's secretary, Cal walked right passed her and into Zoe's office.

When Zoe saw him, she rushed over and threw her arms around his neck. "Cal, thank God you're here!"

Cal stood motionless then gently pushed her aside when he noticed the man sitting and looking at items on a table. He knew immediately he was a cop.

"Dr. Cal Lightman," Cal said as he extended his hand.

The officer shook his hand with a grim smile. "Detective Dave Marciniak."

"I'm Emily's father."

"I gathered that."

"These are my colleagues. My partner in The Lightman Group, Dr. Gillian Foster and this is Eli Loker and Ria Torres. All three of them are the best in their fields of expertise and I trust them with my life but more importantly; right now, I'm trusting them with my daughter's life. What can you tell me about the case?"

Zoe shook her head in disgust at his dismissal of her. "You bastard! Is this how it's going to be? You're going to blame me and ignore that fact that I'm here?"

Tears fell from her eyes as she begged him for understanding. Cal ignored her outburst as he looked at the detective. "Go on…"

"Not much, I'm afraid," Dave looked down at the items in front of him. He grabbed a copy of the note that was left in Zoe's kitchen. "Your wife…"

"Ex." Cal stated matter of factly.

"Your ex-wife came home to find this in her kitchen."

Cal read the note quickly then handed it to Gillian who shared it with both Loker and Torres.

Cal sat down on the couch next to the detective and glanced at the pictures on the table. Most of them were of different angles of the kitchen. His face betrayed no emotion as he looked at each of the pictures then passed them to Gillian.

"I have officers questioning her friends and the school administrators trying to establish some type of a timeline."

Zoe stepped forward helpfully. "They're trying to figure out if she was taken before school or after."

"Are you kidding me? Why are you wasting time when the answer is right there…" Cal spat angrily as he shot to his feet and pointed with his hand at the pictures then walked around the room and rubbed his forehead with disgust that so much time was being wasted.

Loker cleared his throat as he handed a picture to the detective. "It was after school."

Dave looked surprised. "How do you know that?"

Loker shrugged. "There's a can of beans on the countertop and the toaster is pulled out."

When she saw Dave's look of confusion, Gillian rushed to clarify. "Her Dad's favorite snack is beans on toast. I'm guessing she was feeling a little homesick," she said as she looked over at Cal. The briefest flicker appeared in his eyes then was gone so fast she wondered if she imagined it.

Zoe stepped forward and glared at them angrily. "There's also a loaf of bread out and an open jar of peanut butter and jelly. How do you know it's not breakfast?"

Loker looked at her as he tried to hide his indignation. "Emily doesn't eat breakfast."

"Because she's always running late…" Torres snapped back automatically as she paced the room. "… ** _and_** she eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich everyday for lunch! She was running late again for school that morning, she stopped and made her lunch but left everything out on the counter."

Gillian smiled weakly. "She was probably cleaning up when…"

Zoe stood up sadly and began to pace the room. "You people know my daughter better than I do."

Gillian shook her head kindly. "That's not true. We're just trained to be observant."

Zoe was surprised by her kindness and smiled. "Thanks for saying that."

Cal suddenly whirled around and leveled her with an angry stare. "Wait a minute? If this happened after school that means it was yesterday! Emily was taken yesterday!"

The room grew silent as the news slowly sank in.

Zoe seemed to squirm uncomfortably as Cal addressed the detective. "When were you called, Detective?"

"This morning, we got to the crime scene about 7:30."

Cal took a deep breath as he looked at Zoe. "So my sixteen year old daughter has been missing since yesterday afternoon at 4:00 and her mum decides to call me this morning to let me know. Can I ask why I wasn't called last night?" Zoe's face turned white when she realized he knew what had happened. "That's because you didn't come home last night so you didn't know she was missing until this morning!" he accused.

Gillian tried to diffuse the situation and gently asked. "Zoe, when was the last time you spoke to Emily?"

"Right after school, she called me from the car; she was supposed to be going to Brandon's house."

"What time was that?"

Zoe grabbed her phone and went back through the calls. "3:35…"

Cal looked at his phone and pushed the necessary buttons. "She called me at 3:40. We talked for 10 minutes."

Knowing Cal went out later that night, Gillian looked over at Zoe. "You didn't speak to her before she went to bed?"

Zoe began to pace. "I was on a fifteen minute recess from court when she called. She wanted to tell me about some grade she got…I was distracted…"

"She got an A on her Calculus test!" Cal spat out angrily.

Emily had been struggling all year and last weekend she, Gillian and Cal had sat at the kitchen table for over four hours and went over it repeatedly until she understood it. Cal grilled steaks for dinner and they had a wonderful family night.

Zoe ignored him as she looked at Gillian. "I told her I'd call her on my way home."

"And did you?" Gillian prodded.

"Yeah, but this court case I'm on is intense and the judge kept us well after the regular time. At 8:00, Roger was so worried he actually came by the court house. I had just gotten out and we decided to go out for dinner. I tried to call Emily and when she didn't answer I figured she was still with Brandon. I tried to call again at 10:30 and this time when she didn't answer, I assumed she was mad at me and didn't want to talk."

"No, at that point she'd already been bloody kidnapped!" Cal snapped.

"I didn't know that, did I!" Zoe countered angrily as she stood in front of him. "If she would bother to listen to someone once in awhile instead of doing whatever the hell she damn well feels like…"

"Maybe if you would've gone home instead of to your boyfriend's to get a little something, you would have known she was missing sooner."

"I'm not like you, Cal…Roger is my fiancé…he's not some random piece of meat I picked up somewhere." She threw her hands into the air. "Why am I justifying this?" she said to no one in particular. "You're the one who screws **_everything_** that crosses your path!"

"Yeah, but when I shag a woman, I make damn sure I leave her in time to get home to kiss my daughter goodnight and put her to bed."

"Yeah, love 'em and leave 'em Lightman. That sounds like you."

"I've never heard a complaint and I've never left anyone unsatisfied."

"So you finally learned not to call out another woman's name?!"

The line was crossed and Cal walked away while Zoe flashed an angry look at Gillian.

Gillian frowned in confusion. "I have no idea what this is all about but I don't think this is the time or…"

Zoe shook her head disgustedly as she waved her arm at Cal. "Within six months after meeting you, he called _your_ name out one night."

Gillian's jaw dropped open in shock.

Loker stood up angrily and slammed his fist on the desk. "This is all fascinating and any other time, I might have asked Torres to make us some popcorn so we could enjoy this little glimpse into your personal lives but I don't think this is helping us find Emily!"

Torres walked over and grabbed Loker by the shirt and led him over to the coffee pot. Everyone else went to their own corners while the room fell silent.

Cal was standing still and looking out the window. His face was a mask once again when he turned and made his way back over to the detective to look him in the eye while he asked his questions. "Did you get the blood analysis results from the knife?"

Dave lowered his eyes sadly. "Not yet."

"What knife?!" Zoe gasped.

Loker, Torres and Gillian quickly grabbed for the pictures.

Torres quickly pointed at one picture. "There, it's under the door of the dishwasher, see that tiny glint?"

Zoe nodded as she finally saw the glint. "How did it get there?"

Torres softened her words. "Look at the items strewn about the room…"

"So?" Zoe said with confusion.

Gillian stood and placed her hand on Zoe's arm. "Emily fought hard to get away."

Fresh tears fell from her eyes as she realized exactly what had happened and Gillian put her arm around Zoe's waist and led her back to the couch.

"Why didn't I see that earlier?"

Torres leaned forward in her seat. "Emotions can block our ability to see what's really going on…"

Zoe looked over at Cal's back. "So I should become an unfeeling bastard and treat everyone around me like garbage?!"

"That's enough Zoe!" Gillian spat as she saw an almost imperceptible twitch in Cal's shoulder.

"What?!" Zoe shouted back. "He can hate me all he wants but our daughter is missing and he's acting like an unfeeling ass because **_he's_** nursing a hangover!"

"Don't you think he realizes that?!" Gillian defended angrily. "Did it ever occur to you that right now, an emotional breakdown will do nothing towards finding Emily?!"

Torres studied the pictures in front of her while Loker watched Lightman.

He knew Lightman still had a raging hangover and was trying his damnedest to stay focused. He knew his blow up with his ex hadn't helped and Loker knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that unless he was fully functioning they didn't stand a chance of finding Emily. He poured a cup of coffee and walked it over to Lightman.

"Here," he said as he cleared his throat and handed it to him.

Lightman took it automatically from him but continued to stare out the window.

"Yeah, you're welcome," Loker spat sarcastically as he shook his head with disgust.

Lightman looked over at him pointedly. "Thank you…Eli."

Loker nodded at the use of his real name and the genuine emotion behind the comment. "Any time," he said as he squeezed Lightman's shoulder and walked away.

The detective received a text message and read it aloud to the room. "The blood type on the knife is AB+."

Zoe walked quickly towards her desk. "I have Emily's blood type written on a card…"

"It's not her blood!" Cal said quietly as he took a long swig of coffee.

"How the hell do you remember what her blood type is?! What's it going to hurt if I check instead of guessing?"

Zoe continued to dig through her purse while Gillian refilled Cal's coffee.

Cal looked at her gratefully and she caressed his back lightly as she looked pointedly over at Zoe. "Emily is A+, just like Cal. She got in that skateboarding accident when she was ten…we found out that night."

Zoe ignored her as she found the wallet where she kept the information and glanced at the card. "I have it right here! She's A+…" she said smugly.

She looked up then quietly put the card away when she realized that the close working team members were all pretending to ignore the fact that Gillian and Cal both knew Emily's blood type and she had to verify it.

Torres suddenly sat up straighter in her seat as she pointed at a picture. "What's this, Detective?"

Dave looked at the picture and frowned. "I have no idea."

"It looks like a fingernail."

Dave looked closer then nodded slowly. "Oh, yeah, I guess it is!"

Torres looked excitedly over at Zoe. "Who has fake nails?"

Zoe shrugged as she held up her hands. "Not me…manicures every two weeks. Wait! Emily has a dance coming up this weekend and went to the salon Tuesday." She grabbed a receipt from her bag. "Look…she had nails put on for the dance."

Torres scrunched up her face in thought as Lightman walked away from the window to look at her. "What is it, Luv? Are you onto something?"

"I'm…not sure…" Torres looked to Gillian for confirmation. "I've only had it done once. If I remember right those nails took like two weeks before the glue wore down enough for me to get them off."

Gillian nodded. "That's about right; if Emily just got them done they'd be almost impossible to get off."

"Unless there was a lot of excessive force or trauma to them," Loker added.

"What if she was fighting back and scratched one of her attackers…" Torres added.

Lightman looked over at the detective. "There'd be DNA on them. Did your people get it?"

"I don't know…" the Detective admitted.

Gillian shot to her feet. "Let's go find out. Zoe, we need your keys."

"I'm going with!" Zoe gasped aloud

"No!" Lightman said dismissively. "You need to stay here in case they call, Loker will stay with you and set up our equipment in your conference room, we'll make this our base."

Cal looked at Loker who nodded quickly and walked over to start unpacking.

"Torres and Foster…"

 _"_ _You're with me…"_ was left unsaid as Cal walked out of the office and down the hall.

"I hate it when he does this," Torres frowned as they grabbed their purses and raced after him.

Gillian grimaced as they tried to catch up. "Yeah, well, I guess I'm just used to it."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

A detective met them at Zoe's house. He had already removed the crime scene tape from the back door. The pieces blew in the wind from the doorframe as he opened the door for them using Zoe's key.

He walked in first, to make sure no one had come back and disturbed anything. "It's clear."

Lightman barged past him and slowly walked around the room taking in the crime scene.

"Thank you," Gillian smiled sweetly as she and Torres walked past him.

Torres dropped to the floor in front of the microwave cart and looked underneath. Sure enough, CSU had missed the fingernail underneath the cart.

"Detective!"

The man leaned over next to Torres and looked into her eyes. "It's Paul Marciniak…"

"That's Dave's last name," Torres blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, Dave's my brother."

"That's a wonderful recount of your family tree but would you like to tell me how CSU missed a fingernail clearly ripped off during the scuffle?" Lightman asked.

Paul had reached in with a gloved hand then placed the fingernail into a bag and sealed it.

"May I see it?" Gillian asked.

Paul handed it over and she looked at it carefully while Lightman slid up against her to look over her shoulder. "There's blood underneath it, looks we have a DNA sample."

"Let me get this taken to the lab!" Paul said as he raced out to his car.

Torres stepped forward with a slight smile. "Thank God, we may have a lead…at least it will give us something to go on!"

Lightman reached up and cupped her cheek as he gently rubbed this thumb across it. "Thanks to your attentiveness…that's good work…I don't know how to repay you for this, Ria, but I'll find a way."

She smiled and nodded at his compliment. "You already have and you're welcome."

He dropped his hand and walked up the stairs and Torres frowned as she watched him walk away. "Is he all right? Should you follow him?"

Gillian guessed he was heading to sit in Emily's room. "Let's give him a minute..." she said as she walked over to retrace Emily's steps. "Um…okay…let's figure this out…Emily walks in the door after school…"

Torres nods and immediately falls into line with her. "She dumps her back pack and keys on the table over here…along with her cell phone," she said as she stood next to Emily's book bag and held up her phone

Gillian nods as Torres walks to the counter. "She already talked to both Cal and Zoe so by the time she gets inside it's 4ish..."

Torres nods as well as she grabs the variety box of individual size bags of chips. "She's starving, she ate her PBJ at lunch and a bag of chips but that's been it for the whole day." She glances at the other counter and holds up a box of pasta and a canned jar of sauce that had been left there. "She planned on dinner for her and Zoe but not knowing how late Zoe would be, she made herself a snack."

Gillian clapped her hands together. "And because Cal and she had just had a phone celebration over her test grade, she grabbed for _his_ favorite snack."

Torres stood by the toaster. "So it was in the microwave for…what…like two minutes…"

"4:15." Gillian answered quickly.

"So it wouldn't be done until 4:15…"

"Not 4:15…four minutes, fifteen seconds low power." At Torres' look, Gillian blushed then shrugged that she knew exactly how long it would take.

"Whatever…" Torres walked over to the other side of the counter. "It was enough time to clean up the dirty knife and bread crumbs from this morning."

Gillian looked down sadly. "She left out the bread so it would have been stale…she would've been cutting it up to give to the birds…"

Torres snapped her fingers. "That's why the big knife was out!"

Gillian smiled weakly as she opened the door to the microwave to find the plate of beans still inside the microwave. "So, we know she was definitely taken between 4:00 and 4:05. We should get back in case they call."

Torres nodded towards Emily's room. "I'll wait for you in the car."

Gillian quietly made her way down the hall and stood in the doorway observing Cal.

He sat unmoving on Emily's bed with his face buried in her nightshirt.

"Cal," Gillian whispered as she made her way over to sit next to him.

His eyes were dead as he looked at her angrily for disturbing him. "Foster?"

"Torres and I feel that all the signs point towards Em being taken around 4. We should get back and confirm our suspicions to the Detective."

She reached over to squeeze his leg and he shot to his feet and carelessly tossed Emily's nightgown into the hamper. "Right then, let's go."

"Cal, wait."

"Where's Torres?"

"In the car, why?"

"I'll meet you there, give me a second."

"Cal?!"

"Foster, do I have to ask twice?!" he questioned angrily.

"No." she said flatly as she tried to get him to look at her. He wouldn't make eye contact so she sighed then left him alone.

Cal glanced at Emily's bed then reached over and grabbed one of her stuffed animals. It was the one he had given to her when she was just three years old. She had carried it with her ever since and it always held a favorite spot on her bed. He put it to his nose and smiled when it smelled like her. He shoved it in his pocket as he made his way out.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

Loker had a mini lab set up in Zoe's conference room by the time they got back. He had already hacked into the city computers and was currently monitoring all phone calls in and out of Zoe's office as well as reviewing the crime watch cameras Chicago has mounted in various points across the city.

He looked up briefly when the rest of the team walked in. "Fingernail?"

Torres nodded. "CSU missed it; his brother is the other detective on the case. He took it to the lab for analysis but it definitely looked like there was matter under the nail."

"Good work, Torres," he smiled proudly.

Gillian squeezed her arm affectionately as she walked past. "You mean excellent work!"

Loker looked at Gillian with trepidation. "I'm starving, I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of ordering some pizza for everyone."

"When in Rome…" Gillian said nonchalantly as she made a fresh batch of coffee.

Torres' eyes grew wide with hunger. "Good call! I haven't had a Chicago pizza in like five years. Tell me you got deep dish!"

Lightman walked over and put one hand on each of their shoulders. His look said he was angry but his demeanor said otherwise. "Let's hope for his sake that he did!"

He walked away and Torres looked at him then back at Loker. "He's been acting so strange all day. He's really appreciative of our efforts. That's not like his usual sarcastic self at all; he never has a kind word for anyone."

Loker shrugged. "He's falling apart inside. He's trying to remain professional and detached but it's his kid we're talking about here."

"He does appreciate you…both of you," Gillian said quietly as she walked up again. "When it's an outside case, he has the luxury of walking away from it…this one…will likely kill him.

"How much longer before the stress starts to catch up to him?" Torres wondered.

"Depends on what happens today…"

"Why hasn't anyone received a call yet?" Loker whispered.

"I don't know," Gillian frowned.

"You know that's not a good sign, don't you?" Loker asked gently.

Gillian took a deep breath and walked over to talk to Zoe's secretary to ask her something.

The woman ran to the supply closet and got out plates and napkins for everyone. Soon after, the pizza was delivered and the hungry workers loaded their plates and went to their respective areas.

Loker and Torres continued to monitor the cameras that were located near Zoe's house and also watched footage from the time around Emily's disappearance.

Lightman had done nothing more but stare at a computer screen since they got back. Gillian set two headache pills and a bottle of water in front of him. He snatched up the pills and swallowed them then took a big slug of water.

She brought a plate of pizza over to him and placed it on the table next to him then tried to hand him a knife, fork and napkin.

"Cal, you should try to eat…"

"Go mother someone else," he said coldly.

"Really?" she snapped back automatically. When he continued to ignore her, she slammed the utensils on the table and whirled around to walk away. "Fine!"

"Gill…" He instantly grabbed for her hand and looked at her apologetically. "Thank you…for thinking about me."

She softened and smiled knowingly at him as she touched his arm. "Apology accepted…eat," she said as she walked away.

Torres glanced at the screen Lightman was watching and realized he was reviewing footage of Zoe's current court case.

"You think this is related?"

Lightman ignored her and continued to watch the people in the video. After she left, he reached over and distractedly ate the pizza Gillian had left for him.

When he went to the bathroom, Gillian ran over and placed another piece of pizza on his plate.

He came back and noticed the piece then looked around for Gillian who was absent from the room. He rolled his eyes and sat down again. It was over a half an hour later, before he reached up once again and ate the other piece sitting there.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Meanwhile, Gillian left and made her way to Zoe's office. She actually didn't like Zoe. When she left Cal it had almost destroyed him, but she was human and deserved some compassion while Emily was missing.

Zoe looked up hopefully when she walked in. "Did someone call?"

Gillian shrugged. "No, I…um…thought you might be hungry."

She brought a plate with warm pizza and set it down on Zoe's desk along with utensils and a napkin.

Zoe pushed it to the side. "Thank you…"

Gillian sat down in the seat across from Zoe. "Are you all right? Can I get you anything?"

"Yeah…how about…" She stopped then shook her head sadly.

Gillian leaned forward in her seat. "Just ask, Zoe. If I can get it for you, I will, we're here for you."

"You're here for Cal."

"We're here for both of you! If you need anything, Loker, Torres or I will get it for you, I'm sure Cal will help as well."

Zoe snorted. "Cal can't even look at me. He blames me for this whole thing."

Gillian frowned at the truth behind her words. "Where's Roger, does he know? Can I call him for you?"

Zoe shook her head. "No, he left this morning to go to California on business. His plane will be landing soon; I'll tell him when he checks in."

"I'm sorry that he can't be here for you."

Zoe waved her had dismissively. "I had hopes that Cal and I could help each other through this but I can see there's no chance of that happening."

"Maybe…"

"God, Gillian!" Zoe interrupted angrily. "If you're going to defend him, just shut up!"

"Excuse me?!" Gillian gasped.

"You're going to make excuses for him like you always do! He's being an ass and you're running around behind him cleaning up his mess like you always do!"

Gillian clamped down on her anger and looked at Zoe with raised brows. "I was going to say that maybe when his hangover is gone and his thinking is a little clearer he'll be back to his old self again."

"And that's a good thing?!" Zoe asked sarcastically as Gillian slowly grinned. Her face fell when she looked down at Emily's picture again. "You know, I expected to need you here to calm Cal's ranting and raving…get him to think clearly again. The Cal you showed up with is not the one I was expecting, this one, in some ways, is a lot scarier."

Gillian sighed and looked at her hands. "Yeah, I'm worried about him too."

"When he's unable to keep control of his emotions and he crashes, will you be there for him?"

"If he needs me…"

"If?" Zoe shook her head and snorted derisively. "You still don't believe that he's madly in love with you, do you?"

"No, and I'm not sure why you would say that?"

"Because you became the third person in our marriage."

"That's not fair, Zoe! You can't blame me for your marriage, I had no idea…"

"Gillian!" Zoe interrupted her. "It wasn't your fault. Cal and I had problems from the beginning. We were just two people who had great sex. I got into trouble and he did the right thing. Sure, we tried to make a go of it but sex alone doesn't make a good marriage. Then when you came into the picture, I knew it was over."

Gillian shrugged helplessly. "I swear I never gave him any encouragement of any kind…"

"You didn't have to…since he's met you he's held every other woman up to your standards." Gillian frowned with confusion and Zoe continued. "Didn't you ever wonder why there's an endless trail of skirts in his wake?"

Gillian shrugged. "I…"

"It's because they don't measure up to you! Part of me wonders if he doesn't find trampy women on purpose so he has no excuse to lose you."

Gillian stared at Zoe and wondered if there was any truth behind her words.

They both jumped guiltily when the door slammed open. Lightman walked in followed by Loker, Torres and Detective Marciniak.

"Are you two talking about me?" Lightman asked coldly.

Gillian rolled her eyes with exasperation. "I told you once before, you're all I ever talk about. I waited until you were distracted then snuck out of the room to bride Zoe with pizza. I was hoping she could tell me some deep dark secrets…"

Surprised flickered on Cal's face for the briefest second and his eyes flashed humor until he quickly suppressed his feelings and looked at Zoe with cold dead eyes again.

"Maybe instead of talking about shagging, we could get back to finding our daughter."

Zoe knew it was a reference to her night with Roger and she felt her blood begin to boil. She was getting ready to lash out at him when the phone rang.

Her heart leapt in her chest and tears sprang to her eyes as Cal waited for Loker and the detective to start the recording machines. He answered on the second ring.

"Lightman."

"Dr. Lightman, I'm sorry you were dragged into this. I've always respected your work."

Cal's eyes grew colder as he spoke menacingly into the phone. "Thank you…how's my daughter?"

" _Your_ daughter would've been perfectly safe and I would've never allowed it to go this far. Zoe Landau's daughter on the other hand is in a bit of trouble."

"Can I speak to her?"

Cal heard the phone shuffle and Emily's voice come over the line.

"Dad?!"

"I'm here, Em. Are you okay, Luv?"

"Yeah, about as good as the time I ate all that cotton candy, remember."

"They're taking good care of you?"

"I love you Dad!" Emily shouted from the distance.

Cal's emotions showed for the briefest seconds while Emily was talking. A lone tear slipped from the corner of his eye while he schooled his features once again.

"What do you want?" Cal asked.

"As I said, Dr. Lightman, this isn't about you; my beef is with Zoe Landau."

"I'll call back in one half hour, have her answer the phone."

The line went dead and Lightman looked at Loker who slammed down his pen. "Three more seconds!"

Detective Marciniak shook his head with frustration. "He knows what he's doing."

"Aye," Lightman agreed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Detective Marciniak, sat with Zoe and coached her on how to handle the next call.

Loker had the entire phone conversation already playing back over and over into the system. While it worked its magic, he tried to pick up on voice fluctuations.

Gillian sat across from him tearing the message apart into pronouns and phrases to try to come up with anything that would help them pin point a person.

"Emily doesn't sound afraid…" Torres said to no one in particular.

Loker looked over at her and sighed. "No, she didn't."

"She didn't sound worried or exhausted or angry either…" Gillian added. "She sounded…determined…"

She gave Cal a confused look and he nodded as he stepped over and recalled his daughter's words. "She's trying to send us a message."

Loker looped Emily's responses.

"Yeah, about as good as the time I ate all that cotton candy, remember."

"Yeah, about as good as the time I ate all that cotton candy, remember."

"Yeah, about as good as the time I ate all that cotton candy, remember."

"Yeah, about as good as the time I ate all that cotton candy, remember."

"Yeah, about as good as the time I ate all that cotton candy, remember."

"What kind of message is this supposed to be?!" Zoe said with frustration.

Gillian ignored her as she leaned forward in her seat to look directly at Cal. "Emily hates cotton candy."

Cal frowned as he remembered. "You made me buy that huge bag when we went to the circus for her eleventh birthday. You ate about half of it and Emily ate the rest."

"Then you insisted she go on the Tilt O Whirl and she ended up vomiting the whole night." Gillian added.

"Fond memories to relive…" Loker looked at them humorously as he paused so his hands could fly over the computer keyboard. "…You might be interested to know Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus is in town. They're at the United Center for the next few days."

Torres stepped forward and looked at the detective. "Can you get some officers to investigate with us?"

"Yeah! My brother or I will go as well."

"Good, Loker and I'd like to question some of the people."

"This guy is going to call back in ten minutes, when he's done we'll leave."

The Detective went over everything twice more with Zoe before the phone rang.

When the phone suddenly rand, Zoe looked at Cal pleadingly. "I can't answer it!"

"Pick up the damn phone, Zoe." Cal demanded.

Zoe backed away from him and began to shake. "I…."

"Cal!" Gillian said as she pushed him at his ex.

Cal glanced at her then ran to Zoe's side and put his arms around her waist. "Pick it up, Zoe, I'm right here with you." He settled his chin on her shoulder and helped her reach for the phone. "That's a good girl, now talk."

"Hello," she whispered.

"Miss Landau. Your daughter Emily is a beautiful, healthy girl."

"Yes, she is."

"I'd like her to stay that way."

"So would I," Zoe said quietly before her demeanor broke. "Please don't hurt her…." she pleaded as her voice broke.

Cal grabbed her chin and spun her to face him. "No, Zoe, stay strong, I'm here Luv, I'm here, we'll get though this," he whispered.

"I won't hurt her, Landau, as long as you do what I say."

"What do you need me to do?" Zoe asked.

"Drop the case against Sonny Fioretti."

Loker was already typing the name in his computer when Cal glanced over at him gratefully.

"Sonny Fioretti?" Zoe balked.

"Those are the terms; I'll call back in a half an hour."

Knowing there hadn't been enough time for the trace, Dave looked up hopefully anyway. "Did you get it?"

Torres frowned at the time once again. "Four seconds short…he has to have a clock telling him how long he has."

Loker shrugged. "Doesn't matter, the call was made from a completely different part of the city."

"And he didn't let us speak to Emily again." Zoe gasped as she buried her face in Cal's chest.

He automatically put his arm around her but was already distancing himself from her pain as he looked at Loker.

"Who's Fioretti?"

"An enforcer for the Chicago Outfit." Loker sighed.

"We're talking the mafia here, right?" Torres asked.

Zoe sniffed loudly as she pulled away from Cal. "He ordered a professional hit on a judge and his family. When we found out about it we were able to stop the shooter so Mr. Fioretti took matters into his own hands. The judge was fifty years old, his wife was forty eight. They had five kids ranging in age from sixteen to eight."

Cal glanced at her curiously. "But you don't work for the DA's office, how can they expect you to get the prosecuting attorney to blow the case? What pieces are we missing here?"

"My firm was retained by the judge's family to ensure Fioretti goes to jail for his crimes. Now what do I do?" Zoe asked.

Gillian stepped forward. "The only thing you can do to protect Emily. Give in to their demands."

"This is a high publicity case; if I cave to their demands, word on the street will be that I'm incompetent! I'll never get hired again!"

"This is Emily, we're talking about!" Cal shouted.

Gillian stood and grabbed Torres' arm. "We're going to go to the United Center and start questioning people."

Lightman walked to their side. "I'm going too," he walked over to Loker and looked at him. "Will you stay here and help Zoe with the call?"

"Yeah, go…send me anything you can."

"Thank you."

He turned to leave when the phone rang again. Zoe grabbed the receiver before Loker and the detective could get the machines turned on.

"I'll withdraw the complaint."

The voice on the other line chuckled. "That's a good call on your part. Send the proper withdrawal paperwork notarized of course by an officer of the courts."

"It's 7:30 at night; I can't get it done until tomorrow!"

"Then I guess I have an overnight guest again. I would suggest you call in some favors tonight, if not, first thing in the morning; I'd be at the courthouse. I'll arrange to have Lightman bring me a notarized copy of the withdrawal and as soon as Sonny's bail is set, then I'll release Emily. I'll call tomorrow at 11:00."

The line went dead and the room grew silent.

Loker shook his head at the computer screen. "Not enough time."

Torres' shook her head with disgust. "Let's just get over there and interview some people."

Cal headed for the door. "That's a good idea, no sense in sitting around here."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Little to no knowledge was gained at the United Center. They questioned guards and vendors, ticket takers and finally any circus performers and stage hands they could get a hold of.

All totaled, they questioned about two hundred people but no one could tell them anything.

Feeling defeated. they headed back to the hotel. They grabbed a quick bite to eat before they headed up to their individual rooms.

Cal and Gillian had adjoining rooms but neither one of them unlocked their side of the door. Both of them wanted to respect 'the line' that had been drawn.

Cal sat alone and stared unseeingly at the tv screen. He must have finally fallen into a troubled sleep because he woke when he heard someone screaming. He shot up in bed and looked frantically around the room. His heart was racing when he heard pounding on his door.

"Cal?! Open up, Cal are you all right?"

Gillian's worried voice carried through the connecting door as he walked over.

He wiped his hand across his face as he opened his door and looked at her. "Yeah, Luv, sorry, I uh…"

Gillian sighed at his red rimmed eyes and disheveled appearance. He was exhausted and the trauma of the day was finally catching up to him.

"Go back to sleep…" he said as he tried to close the door on her.

Instead of listening to him, Gillian pushed at the door and followed him into his room. "Don't try to shut me out!"

"Foster, get out of my room!" Cal demanded.

"That's not going to happen, Cal, I want to be here for you."

"What about that line you're always talk about?!"

Her face was filled with frustration as she snapped at him. "The line? Really? That's the excuse you're going with?"

He whirled around angrily as he walked pointedly towards her. She backed away from him until he pinned her against the wall. "Yeah…remember? It's the line that you bloody well drew…" he screamed as he pointed at her face.

Gillian frowned as she looked away guiltily then hung her head in shame. "Yeah, well it's been awhile since I've been on the other side of that line." She blinked back tears as she looked into his eyes. "I forgot how hard it is to watch someone you love hurting and know there's nothing you can do about it."

Emotion flashed briefly in Cal's eyes before he shut down again. "Yeah, at's right, there's nothing you can do."

He lowered his eyes and started to back away as she reached out and grabbed his arm to stop his retreat.

He stared at her hand on his arm then shook his head slowly. "I can't go there, Gill, not until I know Em's safe."

"It's okay to fall apart, you know." She turned him to face her then brought his head to her shoulder and pulled him into an embrace.

He gently pushed back and looked at her with any icy grin. "Yeah, except, I won't just fall apart, I'll shatter into a bunch of tiny pieces."

He turned then went and sat on the bed as he picked up Emily's favorite stuffed animal and held it on his lap.

Gillian walked over, sat next to him and put her hand on his back. "I'm not going anywhere, Cal. I'll be here to pick up those tiny pieces."

Cal looked into her eyes and saw only love. His strength finally give out as he turned to grab for her and began to cry.

Gillian held him tightly until he finally got his emotions in check again.

Eventually he leaned back and looked at her apologetically.

Trying to help him with his embarrassment, she repeated the words he had once said to her. "I had no idea you were such a cry baby."

The devilish sparkle in her eyes brought a grin to his face as he touched his forehead against hers. "Thanks, Luv."

She lifted his chin so she could look into his eyes then leaned in and kissed him on the corner of his mouth.

With a weak smile, he turned his head and kissed her lips then backed off and looked away but not before she caught a look of regret flash over his features.

Before he could say anything, she got up and went around to the other side of the bed and pulled back the covers. "Climb in," she ordered.

"What?!"

"Let's go to bed."

He frowned as he looked at her. "I don't want sympathy sex from you, Foster!"

Gillian raised her eyebrows with surprise. "That's good, because I'm not offering any."

Cal was so tired; he realized he had read more into the situation than it was. He blinked and looked at her outfit and grabbed at the chance to lighten the mood. "Not dressed like that your not!"

Gillian looked down at her warm footed pajamas with baby lambs either sleeping on clouds or jumping over fences and grinned. "Well, these pajamas are meant for sleeping; now let's get to bed."

"Foster…" Cal started to protest.

"Tomorrow's a big day and we both need to sleep. I won't get any worrying about you, now climb in."

Cal could tell by her look that she wasn't going to give in and if he would let his heart admit it, he didn't want her to leave so he relented and climbed into bed. Gillian walked around and shut off the lights then turned off the tv before she sat down to turn a classical music station on the radio.

Cal lay with his back towards her as far to the side as he could get.

Gillian slipped in next to him. She frowned when she saw how far away he was. She debated for the briefest second then reached out and gently touched his back. She felt him flinch but she caressed her hand gently across his shoulders as she scooted against him and slipped her arm around his waist.

"You're not going to try anything not that you've finally gotten me into bed, are you?"

"Close your eyes, Cal," Gillian whispered as she snuggled against his back.

She ran her fingers absently over his arm and sighed when she finally felt him relax against her.

"Gill…"

"Go to sleep…"

"I can't stop my mind from racing…"

Gillian sighed as Cal started to turn over. She scooted away from him and watched as he lay flat on his back staring up at the ceiling.

"I can't stop thinking about Emily, alone and afraid…"

Gillian lifted his arm and put it around her as she slid against his side. Cal brought her closer as she rested her head against his shoulder and her hand over his heart.

"Emily's a really strong young woman, Cal…"

"She's still my baby girl…"

Gillian looked up at him until he looked back down at her. "She's as amazing as her father." She felt him tighten his arm around her and she smiled as she made lazy circles with her finger on his chest. "She has an inner strength and she'll keep her head even though she's got to be petrified. I mean…she's already had the forethought to think about ways to slip you clues…that was some pretty ingenious words that she came up with and although they would seem perfectly innocent to most people are actually so informative it borders on brilliant…"

Gillian felt his breathing level out and knew he had fallen asleep. She relaxed against him and within minutes was sound asleep as well.

At some point, she rolled over and Cal drew her close to him and they lay spooned together throughout the rest of the night.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Gillian blinked in the early morning light and a small smile came to her face when she felt Cal's arms around her holding her tightly.

She slipped from the bed and chanced a glance back at him. His face looked at peace and she caressed his cheek before she slipped from his room.

She took a quick shower then headed out. Her plans were to head over to Zoe's office and start going over all the information with fresh eyes.

She was surprised when she met Loker and Torres in the lobby. "You two are up early..."

Loker shrugged. "I was going to head across the street and start reviewing the evidence again."

Torres nodded. "Fresh eyes, fresh outlook."

Gillian nodded knowingly. "Great minds think alike."

Loker shrugged. "Have you uh…seen Lightman yet?"

"Nope, how about you?" Gillian lied easily.

Torres frowned as she tried to figure out the micro expression that had flashed on Gillian's face. "Um…no."

Gillian walked towards the door. "He'll show up when he's ready. I saw a bakery down the block; I'm dying for a chocolate donut. I'll bring some back and some _good_ coffee and meet you up in the lab."

She left and Loker looked at Torres. "Did she just lie about seeing Lightman?"

"I…don't know…do you think they're…"

Loker shuddered at the thought. "I don't know…"

The two walked across the street and began to work.

Gillian came in a short time later with muffins and donuts and they all became immersed in their work.

Two hours later, Cal walked in the door of the lab with a tray of fresh coffee. He set it down then eyed the plate of doughnuts and grabbed a cinnamon roll and started to chomp on it.

He cast a pensive glance at Gillian and when he gauged her mood and saw only acceptance, he grinned, "Mornin' Darling!"

Gillian smiled at his improved mood. "Glad you decided to join us."

Cal pretended to ignore her. "Loker, can you bring up the part when Emily says, I love you Dad…"

"Good Morning to you too….and sure…." Loker said as he shook his head with acceptance that Lightman was back to his old self.

Torres was surprised the old Lightman was back as well. "I take it you slept well?"

"Like a baby," Cal said as he bit off another large piece of muffin. "Thanks for asking," he garbled with his mouth full.

"I love you, Dad!"

"I love you, Dad!"

"I love you, Dad!"

"I love you, Dad!"

"Át's enough, can you remove Em's voice?"

Loker raised his brows at the unusual request but did as he was asked.

"What is that caterwauling in the background?!" Cal asked, his face distorted with disgust.

Loker turned it up then slowly smiled. "That's the new band Emily's been listening too."

"Did they perform here yesterday?" Gillian asked with confusion.

Torres shook her head abruptly. "No, they couldn't, they're a garage band…right now they literally just play in people's garages."

Loker's hands flew over his keyboard. "But with the help of the internet, these guys are able to get more exposure than ever before."

Cal stepped forward. "Are you telling me that the only way for that music to be playing in the background is…"

Loker interrupted him as his hands flew across the keyboard. "…if they've given Emily access to a computer," he said as he turned the monitor for all to see.

Cal waved his hands at the screen. "What's this?"

"Emily's twitter page."

Torres leaned in closer and pointed to the time stamp. "She posted this in the middle of the night."

 _"_ _Tired, gonna hit the hay soon…wish Miss Ellie was here with me…"_

Zoe walked in the door followed by a tall sandy blond haired guy in a suit.

"Sorry I'm late I had to pick up Roger at the airport."

"Yeah, well while you were off again, we found out that Emily was able to go on her Twitter account." Cal accused.

"What did she say?"

Loker showed her the message.

 _"_ _Tired, gonna hit the hay soon…wish Miss Ellie was here with me…"_

"And what does this one mean?" Zoe asked as Roger put a hand on her back.

Cal rolled his eyes at Roger's possessiveness and walked away.

Gillian cleared her throat and smiled weakly. "We think it's another clue to her whereabouts."

Torres sighed. "She wants to hit the hay so it's a safe bet she's being held somewhere near the animals."

"Yeah, but which ones?" Roger asked. "The animals are usually spread out over several acres."

Loker looked at him and smiled. "That's where the Miss Ellie clue comes in."

Gillian leaned forward in her seat. "Miss Ellie was one of Emily's favorite stuffed animals growing up."

Zoe held her hand to her head as she fought for the memory. "Miss Ellie? I remember her talking about her but she had like seventeen on her bed every night. Which one was Miss Ellie?"

Cal looked at her like with disgust. "Do you even know you have a daughter?"

"Are you serious? I've been in law school, Cal! Who the hell would remember the name of seventeen different stuffed animals?" Zoe asked as she looked at the others in the room.

"Miss Ellie is the name for Ellie the elephant," Cal replied smugly.

Zoe threw her hands in the air. "Of course, the one with the purple and pink polka dots that the other elephants wouldn't play with because they thought she had the chicken pox."

Loker raised his brows and made a face. "Sounds like the writers of kid's books do some serious acid."

"Can you and Torres get over to the circus and snoop around the animal tents?" Cal asked Gillian.

Zoe looked down at her watch. "We have one more hour."

The phone suddenly rang and the group jumped.

Zoe walked over and waited for Loker to turn on his equipment before she picked it up. "Hello."

"Mom!"

"Emily?!"

"Mom, I need to talk to Dad."

"Are you all right?!"

"Yes, I love you and I'm fine, really, but I need to talk to Dad. Do you know where he is?"

Cal could hear her excited voice over the phone and took the receiver awa from Zoe. "I'm right here, Luv. Where are you, Em? Did you get away?"

"She's here with us, Dr. Lightman."

Cal frowned and wondered at this strange new set of events.

"Dad, can you listen to me for a second?"

"Of course, Em, I'll listen."

"Okay, so last night I was watching tv when theses guys started talking. They said that Mom's helping to put some guy named Sonny in jail."

"At's right, Em."

"He killed a judge and his family," Zoe explained.

"No, Dad, he didn't. They know who did it but it wasn't this Sonny guy."

Zoe shook her head disgustedly. "They're lying, Em."

Emily ignored her mother's outburst. "No, Dad they're not. They didn't move their shoulders, or twitch their mouths; they didn't make fists or do that little thing with that muscle between the eyebrows, nothing!"

Loker and Torres both looked at Cal uncertainly as he looked at Foster for her opinion.

Gillian shrugged. "Emily's been around this her whole life, Cal. She could be right."

Loker nodded. "She's been playing with those computer tests since she was ten."

"Oh for Pete's sakes," Zoe said disgustedly. "Just so you know, we do have evidence saying otherwise…"

Cal made an instant decision. "The Lightman Group will help you anyway we can. But my daughter and I switch places. She goes free or we won't help. Is it a deal?"

"Dad, I want to help too!" Emily called out.

"You already have, kid!" the voice chuckled indulgently. "Okay, it's not quite what we had planned but yeah, Lightman, it's a deal."

"I'll be by the elephant tent in an hour." Cal said.

The voice chuckled knowingly. "We moved last night after I heard Emily's message. You've got a smart kid."

"Yeah, she's a keeper."

"I'll send a car for you in twenty minutes. You can come with one of your team members.

"I'm coming too!" Zoe called out.

The caller ignored her. "Lightman, if your ex wife shows up, I'll put a bullet in her head. Whoever you bring with you can make sure your daughter gets back safely."

"I'm bringing Eli Loker," Cal announced firmly.

"It's your call," the voice said before he hung up.

Tears fell freely from Zoe's as she looked at Cal. "I want to go."

Cal looked at her and knew she was hurting as much as he was. "You can't they'll kill you and Emily needs a mum."

"Why not me?" Gillian asked indignantly.

Cal sighed as he rolled his eyes. "Because The Lightman Group has just offered to help this guy find out who really killed the judge and his family. You're the other owner of The Lightman Group, I need you to help if this starts to go bad and Torres here is allergic to hay."

"How did you know that?" Torres frowned.

"Because in October, you broke out in hives when we investigated that horse farm."

Loker rolled his eyes. "So I get picked last again."

"What are you in second grade?!" Lightman shot him a look that showed differently. "Actually, if you must know, Loker, I picked you first, because you know the city and how to maneuver around it. I have no idea what these blokes are planning but if I can get Emily out of their hands I need you to get her to safety."

Loker lowered his eyes. "Oh."

"Now if we're done with me giving you compliments maybe we can get ready to be picked up," Cal said as he walked away and grabbed another coffee.

Loker dug through his pockets and counted his money. "I need to get some cash just in case…"

Gillian ran to her purse and dug out money. "That should be enough right?"

"Yeah, especially if she's only by the United Center."

Cal frowned as he handed him some money as well. "At's all I got, take this in case she's hungry or something."

Zoe stepped forward and stood in front of Cal. "I'll give him money, keep yours…you may need it for yourself."

Cal shook his head and looked towards Gillian. "If we can't help them prove this Sonny's innocence, I don't think I'll be coming back."

"Don't say that!" Zoe gasped.

Cal looked at her angrily and stepped into her personal space. "Do you honestly think that after I've seen their faces and can identify them that they're going to let me walk out of their alive? You can't be that thick!"

The room fell silent as each of them realized the truth behind his statement.

Cal frowned at them collectively then tapped Loker's arm. "Let's go."

"Cal?!"

He started to walk away but turned at Gillian's voice.

She looked at him lovingly but knew that professionally he would disapprove of her showing emotions so she frowned and schooled her features again. "Be careful."

"I will, Luv," he said as he reached out and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

The others in the room pretended to ignore the gesture as he turned and walked out the door.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Cal and Loker waited out in front until a van with the circus' name pulled up in front of them.

Loker shrugged as he looked at Cal. "Least we know we were right about Emily's location."

Cal sighed as he climbed in the van. "That's not going to help us now is it?"

He and Loker were handed hoods to put over their heads.

"You've got to be kidding me?" Loker said with disbelief.

Not willing to anger his daughter's captors further, Cal looked at him angrily as he slipped the hood over his head. "Put it on."

Loker put his on then concentrated on the turns that the van was making. He got lost in concentration as he tried to follow the movements on a map in his mind.

Within a half an hour, the van came to a halt and the two were lead into an empty warehouse. Their hoods were taken off as they blinked in the bright lights coming in through the glass block windows.

No one was in the room and Cal frowned as he looked around.

A door to the right opened and Emily ran through it towards her father.

"Dad!"

Cal's arms opened and he hugged her closely as she jumped into his arms.

He reached up and pulled her hair so he could look into her face.

"Are you all right, Darling?"

"Dad, I told you I'm fine!"

Cal looked into her eyes and saw the truth then kissed her forehead before he crushed her back to his chest and cradled her as he felt his heart rate slow to normal.

A man stood in the doorway that Emily ran through and two gunmen stood next to him. "Dr. Lightman…"

The man's presence reminded Cal of his duties and Cal nodded at him before he took Emily's face in his hands. "Go with Loker and do not leave his side until you're back by your Mum."

He kissed her head and started to walk towards the door.

"Dad!" Emily grabbed his arm as she started to protest.

"Damn it, Emily, we wouldn't be here right now if you had listened to your Mum…for once do you think you could listen to me right now!"

Emily looked at his real anger and nodded remorsefully as tears sprang to her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Dad."

Cal frowned as he hugged her again. "I love you, Em."

"I love you too!"

"Loker?" Cal asked as he turned away, knowing that his colleague would listen to him and help Emily get away safely.

Cal walked to the door and turned back to see Loker with his arm around Emily, leading her through the door they must have used when they first came in.

He sighed with relief then looked at his captors expectantly. "Right then, let's get on with this."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Loker and Emily were handed hoods.

Loker looked at her reassuringly. "It's all right. Just put it on."

Emily frowned then slipped it over her head as Loker did the same. He was mildly surprised when he felt Emily's hand reach out for his. He took it and squeezed it comfortingly as he reminded himself that despite all her false bravado, she was still just a kid.

After ten minutes, the driver told them they could take their hoods off.

Loker blinked when he realized they were back in the downtown area and only a few blocks from Zoe's office.

"You can let us off here…" Loker asked.

The driver looked up in his rearview mirror to look at Loker.

Loker couldn't read his eyes because the man wore dark sunglasses but the contempt was obvious in his voice when he spoke. "The kid don't have a coat, you want her to freeze?"

Loker looked at Emily and realized the truth. "Oh, yeah, right…thanks."

The driver shrugged indifferently. "Hey, kid?"

"Yeah?" Emily asked.

"Thanks for your help with your old man."

"Are you gonna kill him?" Emily asked bluntly.

The man looked outside the window then sighed. "That's not how we work. We've got no beef with your Dad."

He pulled up outside Zoe's office and slammed on the brakes. Loker grabbed Emily's hand and led her inside then quickly towards the elevator that went to Zoe's office.

When she saw Emily, Zoe raced across the room and hugged her warmly.

"God, Mom, let me breathe!"

Zoe grabbed Emily's face to look in her eyes. "Are you okay, sweetie, did they hurt you?"

"No, they were…nice actually."

A man came and stood in front of Emily. "Emily, my name is Detective Dave Marciniak. I'd like to ask you some questions."

"Really Detective? She just got back, can't this wait?" Zoe begged.

Emily frowned as she looked at her mother. "Um Mom, in case you hadn't noticed I'm home but Dad's not. Maybe if I answer some questions we can find a way to get Dad out of there too."

Zoe's face fell as she realized her daughter was right. "I wasn't thinking…"

Emily walked over and hugged Gillian.

Gillian patted her back and then pushed Emily's hair behind her ear. "I'm sure glad you're safe."

Emily could see the fear in Gillian's face and knew it was for Cal. "I asked the driver and he said they wouldn't hurt Dad, he said that they didn't operate that way and that they had no beef with Dad."

Loker nodded behind her. "He did say that."

Zoe shook her head. "You're listening to a gunman from the mafia now?"

Emily looked at her angrily. "Maybe if you'd bothered to, you wouldn't be hell bent to prosecute an innocent man and this wouldn't have happened to us."

Zoe's eyes flew open in shock and Gillian turned Emily around. "Emily, all of the evidence strongly points to Sonny Fioretti killing the judge and his family, that's all they have to go on…you can't blame your mom or the police for doing their jobs."

Emily frowned as she realized the truth then looked back at Zoe. "Sorry, Mom."

Dave waved his hand to a chair across the room. "Emily?"

"Yeah…Detective Marciniak, I'm coming."

Emily followed him over and sat on the couch, Zoe sat on one side and Gillian on the other.

"You can call me Dave," he said as he took out a notebook. "Okay, can you start at the beginning?"

"Yeah…um…I came home from school…"

"Why weren't you with Brandon?" Zoe interrupted.

"Mom, I told you his mom was taking him to get his tuxedo for the dance."

Zoe closed her eyes at this forgotten piece of news and realized she should have known Emily would be home alone.

"So you came home from school?" Dave prompted, hoping to get them back on track.

"Yeah, I made a mess in the kitchen that morning and didn't have time to clean it up. I was in there when the back door flew open."

"Go on…" Gillian nudged as she took Emily's hand into hers and squeezed it lightly.

"Three guys in masks came in. I was cutting up some bread when the one grabbed me. I jabbed at him with the knife, I think I got him but another one knocked it out of my hands. I scratched at his arm but the third one had already grabbed me by the waist. It was like seconds and I had duct tape on my mouth and my hands were tied then they tied my legs."

"Oh, God!" Zoe gasped.

Emily reached for her mother's hand as she continued. "They put me in the back seat of a car. When I got to the place, the guy that was in charge had them untie me."

"Did they hurt you or touch you inappropriately in any way?" Dave asked.

"Well, I ripped a nail off when I was fighting but no, actually they were really really nice to me."

"Describe the room they kept you in." Torres asked then flushed when Dave looked at her. He offered a weak smile then turned back to Emily.

Emily shrugged. "It looked like my room. There was a small twin side bed, a tv, stereo, computer…they even had a small fridge that had Coca Cola and some snacks in it."

Dave raised his eyebrows with surprise that they had offered her any comforts. Loker frowned as he thought about it. "Why the hell would they kidnap someone and then treat them like a guest?"

Gillian looked at him. "Because Emily is not only Zoe's daughter, she's Cal's. You heard the guy say he respected Cal's work."

Torres nodded. "Makes sense. You know, we might think their world is all crime but at the base of all of it is a family and family means everything to these people."

"Which is why they're trying to get a murderer to walk free!" Zoe complained.

"Mom! I already told you, he didn't kill that guy. I'm telling you…" she looked at Gillian. "He showed none of the classic signs that I've seen you guys look for."

Loker smiled proudly. "She does score high on her dad's computer tests…"

"When I heard them talking, I looked up and watched their faces. I couldn't see anyone of them covering something up so I walked up to the table they were at and told them I believed their story and if they let me talk to my Dad, I would get him to help."

Loker smiled. "That was pretty brave."

Gillian grabbed her arm. "Stupid but brave…"

Torres interrupted. "Smart actually, you told them you could tell they weren't lying so you got onto their good side, knowing your Dad would do anything he could to help out if you were in trouble."

"Yeah, now he could be in trouble…" Emily said sadly. "And it's all my fault."

Dave tapped her knee. "Just a couple more, okay? Your family here said that you sent clues to your whereabouts, is that true?"

Emily smiled as she looked at Gillian. "You remembered I got sick on cotton candy at the circus?"

"I sure do, I remember your Dad holding your hair and rubbing your back. He felt so bad; I don't know who was more miserable!"

"Me!" Emily laughed. "Trust me, it was me!"

Torres nodded. "Yeah and then you wanted to hit the hay with Miss Ellie."

Loker grinned. "So we knew you were being kept by the animals we just had to figure out which ones."

"Your dad knew Miss Ellie was your stuffed elephant," Zoe said as she gave Cal credit for remembering.

"We would have gotten to you pretty quickly, Em." Loker offered.

Emily stood and walked to look out the window. "Yeah, but how are we going to help my Dad now?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Dave finished questioning Emily then left to go and process the new evidence.

The rest of them sat and waited for over an hour before Loker's phone rang.

"It's Lightman!" He gasped in surprise as he answered and quickly put it on speaker phone. "Yeah!"

"You and Em get back safely?"

"Yeah, she's fine."

"I'm here, Dad!"

Cal ignored her as he continued. "Loker, listen to me, I need to get access to the interrogation tapes of Sonny Fioretti."

"I have those, Cal." Zoey offered.

"Good, Loker send them to my private email as soon as you can."

"Cal, are you all right?" Gillian asked when she saw how upset Emily was that her father had ignored her.

Again Cal ignored them, "I'll expect them within twenty minutes," he asked as the line went dead.

"He wouldn't even talk to me!" Emily gasped as she began to cry. "He hates me!"

Zoe put her arm around her daughter's shoulders. "You're the one thing he loves most in this world! Honey, he's working, you know how he gets…"

Emily sniffled as she looked at Gillian. "He ignored you too!"

Gillian shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Yeah, well I'm used to him ignoring me."

"How can you stand how much it hurts?"

Gillian rushed to his defense. "Your Mom's right, he working and needs to stay focused."

Loker hit the send button then brought it up on his own screen. Torres sat next to him as they concentrated on the video.

"We need this on a big screen," Gillian complained as she looked over his shoulder.

Zoe frowned as she walked over to a hidden panel and opened it. "Will this do?"

Loker's eyebrows raised at the huge screen in front of him. He quickly ran to his bag and got out a cable to hook his computer to the front of it.

He restarted the video and all of them gathered around to watch.

The room grew silent and it was about a half hour into the interview when Torres gasped. "There!"

Gillian shook her head. "I didn't see anything."

Loker skipped back thirty seconds and replayed it.

"Again!" Torres called out as Loker rewound and played it again. "I did see it….right…..there!"

It was one of the quickest micro expressions flashed. Loker thought he saw it but Gillian wasn't convinced.

Torres frowned as she second guessed herself. "Can we at least note it and show it to Lightman?"

Gillian nodded. "Of course, I would never discount your work."

An hour into the testimony it was evident to everyone concerned that Sonny Fioretti was telling the truth and that he was not the killer of the judge and his family.

"I don't know why I didn't see if before," Zoe exclaimed, clearly embarrassed by the oversight.

Gillian shrugged. "It looks like it was an open and shut case, you're not at fault."

Zoe grabbed her purse and walked towards the door. "I'm going to the courthouse to withdraw my paperwork then head to the DA's office and let them in on the new findings."

An hour later, Cal called again.

"Did you watch this guy's bloody testimony; he clearly didn't kill that judge and his family!"

Gillian nodded. "Yeah, Zoe watched it with us and just left for the courthouse to withdraw her paperwork and talk to the DA's office."

Cal could be heard talking to someone in the background before he came back on the phone. "At's making these fellow's pretty happy."

Loker spoke up. "Torres thinks she sees something in the testimony tape. It's at 35.26."

The phone was silent while Cal worked his computer to find the exact spot.

"Huh," could be heard as they heard him punch the keys to replay it. "This screen is terrible, what did you see, Torres?"

"I'm not sure, maybe nothing, or maybe..."

Cal replayed it again and again. "Wait! I see it, it's bloody fear. What's he got to be afraid of?" he asked of the men in the room with him as the phone went dead.

"He did it again!" Emily shouted.

"Emily, I can tell by his voice, your dad is just fine…he's in full work mode. I bet with what we've discovered they're treating him like a king." Gillian comforted.

Within two hours, Zoe's work was done and bail was set for Sonny.

Ten minutes later, he was free on the streets and being taken to Cal by his family members.

Cal had discovered that his captors were in fact the controlling members of The Chicago Outfit. Luckily, he had gained their approval when he discovered the truth and helped to set Sonny free. Now, he knew he was going to have to figure out why Sonny showed fear when he was being interrogated and then try to determine who the actual killer was.

Sonny swaggered into the room and smiled at Cal's host.

"Uncle Tommy!"

Tommy stood and hugged his nephew briefly before he quickly slapped him on the side of his head.

Tommy held the side of his head, "What was that for?!"

Tommy ignored his nephew and motioned for the other men to leave the room.

Sonny grew nervous when he was left alone with just Cal and Tommy.

"Who's this guy?!" Sonny asked.

Tommy sneered at his nephew. "The man that just saved your sorry ass from a prison death sentence! Answer his fucking questions and maybe, just maybe, he'll help us find out who killed the goddamn judge's family."

Cal squirreled away the bit of information as he stared at Sonny. "Tell me why you were so nervous when the police questioned you about the deaths of the judge and his family.

Sonny had taken his Uncle's reprimand to heart and decided to come clean about all of it. "I had heard that there was a hit ordered…"

"By who?"

"The Latin Kings."

"Bastards!" Tommy glared.

"Yeah, I knew it was only a matter of time and I tried to tell Delia but she wouldn't listen to me."

"Who's Delia?" Cal asked.

"My girl."

"Delia? What the hell does she have to do with this?" Tommy wondered.

"The judge's wife is her first cousin. She thought I was trying to cover up our part and I knew if something happened she was going to blame me. She said she was going over there to warn them about it…maybe get them to go out of town"

"So you were worried for Delia?"

Sonny nodded. "When I went over there to see if Delia was there, I found them all…they were already dead. It must've just happened because the Judge still had blood draining out of him."

"So, you were there to save Delia and the family and that's when someone saw you and identified you."

"Yep, and because of my family they assumed it was an organized hit."

Cal grabbed for his phone and pushed the automatic redial button. "Loker, get the camera footage surrounding the judges house. Review the tapes from about two hours before the murder."

"You're gonna help me?!" Sonny asked with surprise.

Cal shrugged. "Well, I can tell you're telling the truth and I don't fancy the wrong man going to prison. Besides, I promised your uncle here I'd be his guest if he let my daughter go?"

Tommy nodded sheepishly as he looked at Cal. "Dr. Lightman, you've done more than enough. Please feel free to leave at any time."

"No, I'll see this through."

Sonny looked up at Cal and frowned. "Why would you help us?"

Cal shrugged. "I'm all about the truth kid; I can't stand when people lie."

Tommy called the other men in and Cal sat back as his host launched his own investigation. He blinked when the orders were given and the men ran to do Tommy's bidding.

"How the hell do you get them to listen to you so well?" Cal asked as Tommy remained silent but grinned at him and twirled the ring on his pinky finger. Cal frowned and then grinned back at him. "Fancy keeping my daughter for a bit longer and teaching her some respect?"

Tommy laughed aloud. "Dr. Lightman, you've done a remarkable job with your daughter. She was an absolute delight to entertain for the past two days. I promise you as long as she remains in Chicago she'll be under our watchful eye."

Cal chuckled as his phone rang. "Loker? What did you find?"

"I've sent some footage to your email, you should be able to open it soon."

Cal's hands flew to his keyboard as he opened the email and began to watch the footage. "Aye…it's a bit grainy but you can see here some men approaching the Judge's house."

Tommy got up and looked over Cal's shoulder. "That's a Latin King car all right…"

"Looks like your nephew is on to something…"

Four hours later, Cal walked through an empty warehouse with Tommy.

Sonny was standing in front of three men who were hanging from the rafters by their hands.

"More guests for dinner?" Cal joked nervously.

An evil gleam was directed at him from Tommy. "These gentlemen are NOT my guests." Cal swallowed hard as he read the fear on the faces of the prisoners. Tommy nodded at Sonny and the other henchmen to hold the prisoners steady. "My friend here makes a living as a lie detection scientist. He'll be able to tell me each time one of you lies. Every time he tells me you've lied, someone here is going to lose a limb."

Cal frowned as he realized exactly how hard this was going to be. "Look to do the job proper I need to see their faces and their bodies. I can't do it if they're hanging like they are…"

Chains could be heard rattling as the three men fell to the ground. They were surrounded and quickly stripped of their shackles as well as head gear and shirts.

Cal shrugged and looked at Tommy. "I could use some more light in here too."

A floodlight was brought in and Cal sighed when he looked clearly at the three men. All had a look of resignation on their faces. They realized they were probably going to die tonight. "Let's get on with it."

Tommy nodded. "Your car was seen on a video surveillance camera outside the judge's house. Were you the three in it?"

"No," the one on the far end sneered.

Cal watched as the one on the other end twitched and the one in the middle grimaced. Knowing what was coming next, Cal fought to control his stomach. "Did you see how he twitched his arm there…That's a lie."

Tommy nodded and two of his men grabbed the arm of one of the prisoners and held it down on a table. A third man took a machete and cleanly sliced off the prisoner's hand.

Cal cringed at the screams that echoed through the warehouse. The men gave the prisoner a towel and shoved him back in the line. The severed hand stayed on the table in front of them.

Fear showed through the pain in the hurt prisoner's eyes but the other two stood strong.

 _"_ _Don't lie…don't lie…don't lie…"_ Cal repeated quietly over and over in is head.

"Okay, so you were there that night. Who ordered the hit?" Sonny asked.

Cal shook his head and leaned in to whisper to Tommy before he walked over closer to the men then signaled to Tommy.

Tommy watched Cal's hands signal to him before he slowly started to list the usual suspects. "Garcia…" There was no reaction so Cal waved again. "Hernandez…" Cal waved again. "Gonzalez…" Again Cal motioned. "Ortiz…"

"At's the one." Cal said confidently.

"So Ortiz ordered the hit," Sonny's eyes flashed angrily.

Not wanting to make any mistakes, Tommy walked by Cal. "You're sure, Dr. Lightman?"

"Aye," Cal nodded at the three men. "They just told me...he had a twitch in that little muscle between his eyes…that one ground his teeth and that one showed pride. He did the killing but it was on Ortiz' orders."

Tommy nodded at the men standing closest to the door. Cal swallowed hard when the men quickly left. He knew they had received their orders; they were heading out to find and probably kill Ortiz.

Tommy looked at the other three men. "I can torture you now and you'll die a slow painful death over the next few days or you can give your statements to the police. You have my promise your deaths inside will be quick and painless."

The three men knew their fates were sealed and all of them opted to die quickly in prison.

Tommy's men led them out and made sure they were taken directly to the police.

Cal looked at Tommy. "So, Sonny's been cleared. My job here is done."

He reached out and Tommy shook his hand. "Not so fast, Lightman."

Cal's heart sank as he swallowed nervously. Tommy nodded to yet another one of his men. The man brought a briefcase over and handed it to Tommy.

Tommy smiled widely as offered the briefcase. "Your services have been greatly appreciated and I'll be forever in your debt." Cal took the briefcase he handed him and shot Tommy a questioning look. "I pay my debts, Dr. Lightman. I believe this is the going price for your services with a little extra for the stress put on yourself and Emily.

Cal nodded in understanding as he took the case. "Thank you."

One of his men came and stood in front of Cal. "I'll take you back."

Cal offered Tommy a final nod as he followed the man to the limo.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Cal was dropped off in front of Zoe's office building.

Five minutes later, he nonchalantly walked inside their makeshift lab.

"Dad!" Emily called out as she ran across the room and in to his arms.

"Hi, Em."

They held other tightly as Emily began to cry.

"I'm so glad you're back, are you all right?"

Cal kissed her forehead and pulled her away as he gripped her face tightly. "I'm okay, Em."

"Did they hurt you?" she asked as she looked him over.

"They were just as accommodating to me as they were to you, Darling."

Emily realized he wasn't hurt and sniffled as she stepped back.

Zoe offered him a hug as well. "I'm glad to see you made it back, Cal."

He smiled as he kissed her cheek. "I couldn't let our Em down could I?"

Loker shook his hand and Torres gave him a quick hug.

Cal looked over at Gillian who had tears in her eyes. He shook his head and watched as she took a deep breath and composed herself before he offered her a quick hug.

He looked into her eyes and smiled at the love that was evident there. At that moment, he decided life was too short and he was going to finally act on his love for her.

Instead, he handed her the suitcase.

"What's this?" Gillian wondered.

"Payment to The Lightman Group for services rendered."

Gillian opened the case and gasped. "Oh my God!"

Loker looked over the front of the case to see what it was. "There has to be a couple hundred thousand dollars."

Torres looked as well and gasped. "In $100 dollar bills?"

Gillian shut the case. "Dirty money," she said disgustedly.

"Spends the same way," Cal looked at her pointedly.

Gillian nodded as she thought of the bills they could pay with it. "You're right. This will keep us going for quite awhile."

"Well, I'm starving!" Cal announced. "How about we use some of that and go out to dinner?"

Zoe shook her head. "No, keep your money, it's my treat."

Gillian called and got plane tickets for the first flight out in the morning before they headed out to eat.

They had a nice celebratory dinner and Cal grudgingly admitted to himself that Roger, Zoe's fiancé, was actually a really great guy.

Dinner lasted several hours and the crew made it back to the hotel late.

Emily looked at Zoe. "I'm gonna stay here with Dad for the night."

"Em, you don't have anything to wear." Zoe pointed out.

Torres stepped forward. "I have an extra pair of sweats and a t-shirt she can have."

"Cal?" Zoe asked.

"It's up to Em."

Zoe nodded and gave Emily a quick hug and kiss before the crew headed up.

Torres led Emily to her room and quickly dug out a change of clothes.

"Thanks, Ria."

"No problem, kid."

Cal had really wanted to talk with Gillian but he would never put his own needs before Emily's. He looked apologetically at Gillian as he whispered. "I'm sorry about this, Luv."

"Later…goodnight, Cal. Goodnight, Em." Gillian said warmly as his daughter walked up and passed them.

Gillian walked into her room and closed the door as Cal watched her with a non readable expression.

Emily took a quick shower and changed into Torres' borrowed clothes then hopped down on the bed.

Gillian had also gone into the shower and as she came out she could hear Emily talking to Cal.

"Dad, I want to come back home and live."

Gillian walked over and quietly shut her door to give them the privacy they deserved.

"Emily, a month ago you wanted to come and live with your Mum."

"I changed my mind. Are you saying I can't come home?"

Cal had sat down next to her and pulled her into his embrace. "Course not, Luv. You're always welcome to come live with me but not because your angry with your Mum."

Emily looked up at him and shook her head. "I hate it here. I hate living in the downtown area, I hate the fact that I'm alone all the time. Mom is really trying to grow her company and between that and Roger…plus I miss my friends."

Cal kissed her head. "Okay, darling. Let me go to the school Monday and work on getting you transferred back in."

"Thanks, Dad!"

Cal handed her the stuffed animal from her room and she smiled as she took it and snuggled down in the covers. She blinked a few times and was fast asleep.

Cal got up and headed to take a shower. On his way out of the bathroom, he stopped at the doors adjoining the rooms. He opened his and saw that Gillian had closed hers.

As he reached out to try the handle, he stopped himself and sighed then walked over and climbed in next to Emily and fell asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

It was Saturday when they finally got back to the The Lightman Group headquarters.

They each carried in several pieces of equipment and then Loker and Torres went back for their individual suitcases.

Cal had gotten the dolly out of the closet and he and Gillian were loading the equipment onto it when they walked back in from their cars.

Cal cleared his throat loudly. "Right then, thank you all for your help these past few days," he announced. "I wouldn't have been able to do it without you."

Gillian smiled warmly at him. "I think they deserve a few days off."

Cal raised his brows then made an odd face. "We were gone for three days and are probably really far behind. Do you think it's a good idea to let them lollygag around at home?"

Gillian rolled her eyes and looked at Loker and Torres. "Don't come back before Wednesday and enjoy the rest of your weekend." She shot Cal a look then headed to her office.

"What you're still here?" Cal spat at the stunned workers then turned and walked towards his own office.

Gillian immersed herself in accounting while down the hall, Cal caught up on phone messages.

It was close to 6:00pm before Gillian leaned back in her chair and sighed. She looked at the clock and gasped at the time then frowned when she realized Cal had never said goodbye.

She got up to stretch and looked at her shoes. She stuck her tongue out at the high heels then padded down the hallway in her stocking feet.

Cal's door was ajar and she peeked her head in.

"Cal?"

The outer office was empty so she made her way to the inner office. She could tell by the lights flashing under the door that he was watching movies.

"Cal?" she said as she tapped lightly.

"It's open, Darling."

Gillian walked in the dark room and looked up at the screen to find him watching movies of Emily as a baby. With a smile, she sat down next to him and watched too.

She clamped down on the jealousy of seeing Zoe holding Emily as a baby and Cal looking at both of them adoringly. As time wore on, you saw less emotion in their faces unless they were interacting with Emily.

Gillian was surprised to see Cal had included her in some of the videos, mostly the ones for Emily's later birthdays.

The movie ended and Cal sighed. "That's it then."

Gillian knew he was missing his daughter and patted his leg. "She said she was coming home next weekend."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just used to having her around all the time."

"You were really lucky that you were able to have her live with you all these years."

"I was really lucky Zoe was selfish enough to put herself and law school before motherhood."

Gillian couldn't believe she was saying it but she said it anyway. "You can be pretty overwhelming sometimes; maybe after the divorce, Zoe needed to find herself so she could be a better person and mother to Emily."

He made a look of disgust. "At's a lot of psycho babble, that is."

Gillian slapped at him playfully. "That's the truth and you need to learn to accept it."

Cal reached for her hand and held it in his own as he grew serious. "Fancy getting something to eat?" he asked nervously.

Gillian's eyes rose with surprise at his demeanor and squeezed his hand comfortingly. "Do you think we should talk about it first?"

 ** _The Line_** ….

Cal's heart sank when he assumed she wanted to draw the proverbial line back in the sand again.

He pretended he didn't know what she was referring to. "Okay, we could talk about _it_ …I was thinking maybe Italian…get a nice salad, some fettuccini alfredo, wine…tiramisu?"

Gillian knew he had put her off and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully as she decided to take matters into her own hands. "Why don't we eat at my house, we can call Mario's and have it delivered?"

Grateful for delaying the serious discussion, Cal reached for the life line she'd thrown. "Whatever you want, Luv."

"Let me get my purse."

"You might want to put shoes on too."

Gillian rolled her eyes as she left his office.

Cal closed down his office then made his way down the hall. Gillian had quickly closed up her office as well then walked out to meet him.

Cal threw his arm around her as they walked to the car. "I'm starving!"

"Me too."

Cal opened the car door for her then walked around to his side.

As he settled into his seat, she sighed. "I think I might take a quick shower before dinner."

"At's fine, I'll watch the telly for awhile."

"When I'm done with my shower, if you'd like you're welcome to clean up as well."

"Am I stinky?" Cal asked as he sniffed at his armpits.

Gillian looked horrified that she had offended him. "I didn't mean it like that."

Cal grinned devilishly then glanced back at his luggage, grateful he still had a change of clothes. "Yeah, if you don't mind, I think I'll do just that."

They fell into a companionable silence. After he parked, Cal grabbed the suitcases out of the car and followed her inside her apartment.

Gillian automatically hit the button on her answering machine and then frowned when she heard her mother's voice asking her to call.

"I need to call her back; you can use the guest room then go ahead and take your shower first."

Cal nodded and made is way to the back of the apartment while he heard Gillian pick up the phone.

Fifteen minutes later, he came out to find Gillian with the phone cradled between her shoulder and her ear, still talking with her mother. She was standing at the counter cutting up the fixings for a salad.

Cal grabbed the knife from her hand then kissed her temple.

Gillian looked up at him for the first time and caressed his cheek, surprised to find him clean shaven.

Cal pushed her towards the door.

She grabbed a menu from the inside of a desk drawer and handed it to him while she shot him an apologetic look. He could hear her still talking while she walked down the hallway.

He glanced at the menu then quickly called and placed the order. He walked to her wine cabinet and grabbed a bottle then uncorked it to let it breathe before he went back to finish making the salad.

Thirty minutes later, the delivery man came with dinner. Cal paid him then frowned wondering how much longer Gillian would be.

At that moment, she came out of her bedroom freshly showered and dressed casually. "I am so sorry; I should have waited to call her tomorrow."

"Don't be silly, Darling, dinner just came."

Gillian walked around the corner and saw that he had finished the salad and the table was set. She looked at him gratefully. "You've been busy."

Cal handed her a glass of wine then sat down at table and started to open up the carryout containers.

They kept the conversation light through dinner. Neither of them was willing to ruin the moment with the serious discussion mentioned earlier.

After dinner, Gillian grabbed the bottle and led the way into the living room then sat down on the couch. She was relieved when Cal sat down next to her instead of in one of the other chairs.

Cal refilled their glasses then settled back.

An uncomfortable silence fell between them as they each tried to decide how to start.

Gillian was the first to clear her throat. "This seems kind of silly."

"What does?"

"The awkwardness between us. You're the one person in my life who I know will always be there for me."

"Yeah, I feel the same way."

"So…I guess I feel like we should be able to talk about anything."

Cal sighed warily and rubbed his hand over his face. "Just get on with it, Gill."

Gillian took a deep calming breath then jumped in. "Not too long ago, David Burns asked you a question..."

Cal cringed when he realized this was the day he would have to answer for his comment. "Yeah."

"Your answer kind of surprised me."

"Yeah, well it surprised me a little too."

"Did you mean it?" Gillian asked as she turned to read his face while he answered.

Cal chanced a glance at her then looked away, scared to death, wondering where this was leading. He sighed as he looked back at her. "Yeah, I meant it." Gillian was at a loss for words and the silence grew until he grunted remorsefully. "Probably shouldn't have admitted it but given the situation we were in I guess he deserved to hear it."

"I deserved to hear it too…and …" she sighed as she took a deep breath. "I'm glad you said it."

"Yeah, why's that?"

Gillian squeezed his hand. "Because one of us finally had the strength to admit what we're both feeling."

Shocked by her revelation, Cal's eyes snapped up to look at her and his heart skipped a beat as he saw only love reflected in them. He swallowed hard before he nervously chuckled at her. "Yeah? You want me in the worst possible way, do you?"

"You're impossible…" Gillian smiled as she rolled her eyes and shook her head with mock exasperation. She grew serious again as she lovingly caressed his cheek. "But…I…know I want to be with you. I have to admit, I'm petrified of the outcome, but I do want to be with you."

Cal took her hand and held it tightly as he looked at her worriedly. "I don't want to mess this up either, Gill, and with my track record, there's a good chance I will."

"May I remind you that my track record isn't all that great either."

Cal rolled his eyes at her comparison. "Yeah? How many hearts have you broken? How many men have had their dreams crushed by you?"

"None…" She admitted quietly as she looked down sadly.

"I don't believe that."

Tears came to her eyes as she looked back at him. "I've never been able to keep anyone happy long enough to stay with me. They always find someone or _something_ better to go to."

Cal knew she was talking about Alec's drug habit. "Then they didn't know how good they had it." Gillian smiled weakly as he reached up and whisked away the tears that had fallen. He leaned forward and offered her a light kiss then backed away. "You deserve better than me, Gillian."

"I don't think there is any one better than you."

"At's not true and we both know it."

Gillian squeezed his hand reassuringly as he offered him a slight smile then looked at him curiously and decided to keep the confessions going. "Zoe told me that when she got pregnant you did the right thing and married her."

Cal shrugged indifferently. "Not much of a choice, she was having my baby."

"A lot of men would have chosen a different path."

"Yeah, well, my mum taught me better."

"She said you guys tried to make it work…"

"At's true, we did try…I did love her, Gill, I just wasn't… _in love_ with her."

"She said that after you and I met, you changed. She claims you began to hold all other women up to my standards and that's why you've left a trail of skirts in your wake."

Cal scratched at his face and sighed. "At's probably the truth."

Gillian turned to face him. "Cal, if this is going to work between us, you have to take me off that pedestal. I'm not perfect, I don't deserve to be up there and if you climb up there with me, we're both going to fall off."

Cal's eyes softened as he moved closer. "Did you just say…if this is going to work?"

Gillian rolled her eyes as she sighed. "Yeah, I also said a few other things that were more important after that…did you hear any of them?"

"Yeah, yeah, pedestal and all that…so…if I'm hearing correctly you want to erase that blasted line and try and make a go at this…"

Gillian licked her lips then smiled coyly. "I think it was only a matter of time…that line has been trampled on a lot lately."

Cal felt his heart start to hammer in his chest as he cupped her cheek in his hand and looked in her eyes then leaned in and kissed her.

Gillian shyly kissed him back and as Cal deepened the kiss, they both felt the shift in their relationship.

Seconds later, they came up gasping for breath as their emotions swept them away.

Cal leaned back and looked at her. "There's no going back from that one."

"No," Gillian said as she stood up and reached her hand out to his.

Cal knew she meant to lead them to the bedroom. He stood and leaned in for a quick kiss then shook his head regrettably. "I hate to break the mood but I wasn't prepared for this, I should run to the pharmacy."

Knowing he meant he needed condoms, Gillian grabbed for the front of his shirt and kissed him. "Do you always wear one?"

Assuming she was worried about the number of past partners he had, he nodded. "Never been without one, kind of learned my lesson with Emily."

"Well, we don't need to worry about anything like that happening so…" Gillian's eyes showed a trace of sadness again as she looked at him.

Cal realized she was admitting she was unable to have children and he wanted to erase the sadness from her eyes. "…So the only worries we have are the amount of partners **_you've_** had in the past," he grinned as he kissed her cheek.

"You're impossible," she said as she swatted playfully at his teasing before she grew serious. "Alec and I didn't…well…it's been a long time and because of his drug use I got myself tested…and David…came prepared," she blushed.

Knowing they were safe on all levels, Cal reached for her hand. "Gill, it's your call. I'll run out right now if you say to but…I want you to know…this is it for me, Luv…there won't ever be anyone but you."

His guard was down and she had the power to crush him with her words but she shrugged her shoulders instead as she leaned into him. "I feel the same way, Cal and I don't want to waste another minute."

He swiftly pulled her against him and kissed her deeply.

Gillian trembled at the intensity and started to walk backwards towards the bedroom.

The back of her legs finally bumped into the side of the mattress and she sat down heavily on the edge of the bed.

"Not yet, Luv," Cal instructed as he pulled her to her feet.

She stood as he kissed her then reached down with his hands to grab the edges of her shirt. The only time his lips left hers was the brief second he pulled her shirt over her head. He drew her close again as his hands caressed her back lovingly. He reached to find the clasp on her bra, not finding it in the middle of her back, he leaned away and looked to the front.

"Bloody hell!" he said as he gasped at the curves of her breasts outlined in red lace.

He kissed her quickly then looked into her eyes as he undid the clasp. Her eyes flickered fear as he slid the bra straps off over her shoulders. He blinked with confusion as he put his arms around her and held her close. When he felt her relax against him, he leaned back to look at her then stopped and lightly squeezed her arms.

"Gill, if you've changed you mind, Luv, we can stop right now…"

She panicked and grabbed at his shirt before he could back away. "No! I don't want that!"

"Why are you afraid?!"

As she looked at him, she blinked back the tears that sprang to her eyes but not before a few escaped and made their way down her cheeks. "I don't want to disappoint you!"

"What?" Cal frowned as he tried to read her expressions.

"Alec told me once that…"

Cal knew she was going to say that Alec told her she was a disappointment in bed and that's why he strayed. He damned Alec for letting Gillian believe it was her fault their relationship failed. "At's nonsense that is…" he said before he kissed her.

Gillian gasped as he slowly brought his hands to her breasts. Her hands grabbed his shoulders and held on as he kissed his way down to suckle on the hardened tips.

Feeling his shirt bunching up under her hands, she began to pull it off. Cal leaned away and whipped it off in one motion. Gillian's hands roamed freely over his back as he returned to loving her.

Gillian began to pant heavily and Cal slowly lowered his hands down to remove her pants.

Gillian stepped out of them and Cal glanced at the red lace thong that had clearly matched the bra that lay discarded on the floor. He groaned as he kissed her and grabbed her hips and pulled her against his hardened flesh.

Gillian reached for his buckle and tried to undo it but couldn't. "Cal?!"

Cal heard the frustration in her voice and leaned back and smiled as he quickly undid it and slipped off his pants and underwear in one smooth motion.

Gillian hands roamed freely and she took his length in her hands.

Cal gasped when she started to gently stroke him and he jumped back quickly. "Better not do that or I'll be the one to disappoint."

Gillian used his own words against him. "And you've never heard a complaint…never left anyone unsatisfied…"

"You're the only one I'm worried about satisfying, Luv."

"That makes two of us…" Gillian muttered as she chewed nervously at her bottom lip.

Cal read her again and caught the nervousness she was trying hard to hide as he drew her into a tight embrace. "Darling, do you trust me?"

"What?" Gillian blinked in confusion as she leaned back and looked into his eyes. "Yes."

"I mean deep down inside, really trust me?"

"Of course I do."

Confident in his abilities, Cal smiled and kissed her. "Then let me take the lead."

Gillian nodded as Cal's hands slid down and removed her thong. He gently pressed against her as he had her lie down on the bed. He rose above her and Gillian spread her legs but her brows furrowed in confusion when he moved off to her side. She could feel his erection pressed into her leg and wondered why he stopped.

As he kissed her, his hand slid down the length of her body and gently probed her moist heat. He deepened his kiss and smiled when he felt the wetness as he slowly inserted a finger. Gillian arched under him and groaned as he entered her with a second finger.

Cal slowly kissed his way down her body but this time when he didn't stop at her breasts, Gillian grew nervous.

"Cal? I…"

Cal's response was to move his fingers around inside of her. His mouth quickly covered her mound and his tongue delved in as she gasped his name.

"Cal!"

He slipped his hands under her then loved her with his mouth.

Within minutes, she crashed over the edge and grabbed for him. "Caaaaaal!"

He slid up to her side to hold her while she trembled as she came down from her high.

She caressed his face as she looked at him lovingly. "I've nev…"

"I know, Luv…" Cal knew she'd never experienced it that way before as he leaned in and kissed her. Gillian responded instantly and deepened the kiss.

Cal rose over her as she shifted to accommodate him and he slowly entered her.

He gasped when he was fully sheathed inside of her and surrounded by her tight warmth. "Bloody hell, Gill!"

He stopped so she could get used to his size and she smiled as she looked at him. "I'm okay…"

"Okay? You feel fantastic, Luv!"

She gasped as he kissed her and slowly began to move.

Cal felt her body respond to his and he hoped he could hold out long enough to have her go with him.

He stopped kissing her and leaned back as he whispered to her. "Look at me, Gillian."

Her eyes slowly opened and he saw total trust within him. Gillian wavered as she saw a look in his eyes filled with an intense need.

She guessed correctly that he was unsure of his worth. "I love you, Cal."

He saw the truth on her face and fell against her as he drove inside of her.

"I love you too, Darling!" he gasped.

Gillian wrapped her legs around him and squeezed her muscles as she synched her movements with his. Her eyes slowly closed as she gave into the sensation and felt herself moving towards the edge again.

"Cal!" she gasped in surprise. "Oh, God, Cal!"

He smiled inwardly as he held her tighter and thanked that same God for helping him out. He felt her muscles contract around him as she cried out her release. Seconds later, he followed her over the edge then collapsed on top of her.

He tried to catch his breath and he made to move off of her but she squeezed her legs and held him inside of her until he finally slipped out.

Her legs released and he slid to her side then pulled her against him as they both gasped for breath.

He felt wetness on his chest. Panicking that she had regretted what they'd done, he leaned back to look at her face.

"Are you all right, Gill?"

Gillian smiled weakly at the concern in his voice and rushed to reassure him. "That was…I mean…I've never…?" she blushed and buried her face against his chest.

Relief flooded through him as he held her tightly and chuckled. "I know, Luv, it was bloody fantastic."

"Was it?" she asked nervously.

He cupped her face and looked at her lovingly. "Yes!"

"You're not lying to me are you?"

"I might bend the truth once in awhile, Darling, but I'll never lie to you."

Relief showed on her face as she kissed him. "I was so afraid I wouldn't measure up to your past…Zoe said…"

"Gillian…" Cal interrupted her with a trace of anger in his voice then forcefully pushed against her and kissed her deeply. "I never loved Zoe the way I love you…what we have is entirely different."

She lowered her face remorsefully. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have brought it up. My insecurities…"

"…have just been proven to be unfounded. I'm guessing that your problem had less to do with you than the abilities of the men you were shagging."

Gillian looked up and saw his devilish grin and she wanted to wipe the smugness from his face. Her hand slid between them and gently cupped his manhood.

He raised his eyebrows with surprise. "Darling, I don't recover as quickly as I used to…" he admitted as he gently tried to pull her towards him.

Gillian had thoughts of her own and pushed against him so he was on his back.

She leaned over him and kissed him then slowly mimicked his earlier movements and made her way down his body.

"Gill?!" he asked, wanting to give her the chance to stop but then moaned in pleasure when she covered his manhood with her warm mouth.

He could tell she was inexperienced but because it was her loving him, his body responded immediately. "Fuck!" he cried out at the pleasure she was bringing him as he grabbed the sheets in his fists.

Minutes later, he warned her. "Gillian, best stop that, Luv!"

Gillian smiled shyly then climbed on top of him. His eyes showed surprise which quickly turned into delight as she guided him into her. She gasped with pleasure as she slid down his length and took him all in.

Cal let her take the lead but again her fumbling attempts showed through and he helped her along the way. It wasn't long before she figured out the rhythm and guided them over the edge.

She collapsed on top of him and he held her tightly as she cried.

"Darling, are you going to cry every time we make love?" Cal wondered.

Gillian blinked back her tears and looked at him as she smiled shyly. "Will it always be this good?"

Cal looked at her smugly. "No, it should get better once we learn a little more about each other."

"Do you really think that's possible?"

Cal kissed her deeply. "Well, it doesn't hurt to keep trying…"

Gillian giggled as she kissed him back.

"Cal…" she asked as he nibbled on her neck.

"Hmmm…?"

"I never got my tiramisu."

Cal stopped and looked at her lovingly. "At's right, you were in such a hurry to get me in your bed, we skipped dessert."

"I'm going to go and get it…" Gillian said as she flipped back the covers.

"Stay put, Luv, I'll grab it for you."

He slipped out of the bed and made his way to the kitchen. He grabbed the whole dessert and a fork then made his way back to the bedroom.

Gillian had propped herself up into a sitting position and covered herself up with the sheets. She opened her eyes wide when she saw that he had brought the whole thing. "I sure hope you plan on helping me with this."

Cal smiled as he dug the fork into the middle of the dessert. The spoon was heaping when he brought it to her lips.

Gillian opened her mouth but as expected some of it fell from the fork and landed on her chest.

Cal looked down and grinned wickedly as he saw that it had fallen in the visible part of her cleavage. He pulled the sheet lower as he leaned forward and licked it off.

"Mmmmm…" Gillian's eyes glazed over.

He leaned up and kissed her. "That stuff is excellent."

"Told you."

"I think I could learn to like desserts if I can eat them off of you."

Gillian blushed as she innocently turned her fork to its side. She had a feigned look of surprise on her face when more landed on her chest. "Oops."

"Clumsy, are we?" Cal grinned as he reached forward and smeared the dessert over her hardened nipple.

Gillian's eyes closed and her head fell back as his mouth replaced his fingers. "Cal?"

Cal licked and suckled the dessert off of her. "I can't seem to get enough."

"Of the dessert?" Gillian frowned.

"Of you, Luv." Cal grinned.

Years of denial and then their final admission of love had forced them into a frantic pace. That lust seemed to be satisfied and this time Cal was able to go slower and draw out their lovemaking.

Once again, they collapsed into a heap on the bed but this time they fell asleep in each others arms.

The End


End file.
